Living Among Titans - A Transformers Prime Fanfiction
by Lucywind
Summary: Reese Shields, a spunky teenage girl, finds herself literally dragged into a war between Titans. The Autobots, among whom Reese finds herself living, fight to protect the Earth and its inhabitants from the evil Decpeticons. She must learn to accept herself and her new life as she realizes that everything she thought she knew, is actually a lie.
1. That Fateful Night

**Hello hello! If you are new to this fic, then welcome! If you are returning here to find out why all the other chapters are gone... its because I'm currently in the process of rewriting them. I realized that they were garbage, and left much to be desired. Since I have only gotten chapters 1 - 4 rewritten, there were a lot of inconsistencies between the new chapters and later ones... So, for the sake of keeping everything organized and on the same page, I decided to take down all of my chapters except for the ones I had already rewritten. This way, you will get to see the new and improved chapters as I finish them! Don't worry, it shouldn't take me too long to rewrite them, since I already have them outlined. But I do recommend reading them as they are updated, since A LOT is going to be changing (especially regarding Reese's backstory). Soooo... Yea... I'm sorry for any disappointment, but this just makes things easier for me.  
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 **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.  
**

 **That Fateful Night**

" _I'm so tired_ ," Reese thought to herself as she walked out of the computer software store where she worked. It had been a long shift and she had been the one stuck closing up the shop, again. " _I freaking hate the closing shift so much_."

She vaguely noted that there was still another car in the parking lot, which was odd since everyone else had already gone home, but she was too tired to think much about it. She climbed into her own truck and started the engine. " _I don't even know if I'm going to eat dinner tonight. Ten is a little late to be eating. A shower and then bed sounds like a good plan."_ She pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main highway leading out of Jasper, Nevada. Unfortunately, her stomach disagreed (with her good plan) and argued back at her with a loud growl. "Okay, okay, I will feed you and then get ready for bed," she replied to her loud, angry, stomach.

If Reese had been paying attention to her surroundings more, she would have noticed the other car follow her out of the parking lot, but she was too tired to think about anything other than getting home and going to bed. She drove past the 'Welcome to Jasper' sign, knowing that from there it was only another twenty minutes or so till she got home. She would have liked to live a little closer to town, but this was the house her parents had left her when they died, so this was the house she lived in.

Reese was finally distracted from autopilot mode by the blinding headlights of the car behind her. Whoever was in the car had just turned on their high beams, and they were shining right in her eyes thanks to the reflection of the rearview mirror. "Are you kidding me? Dude, if you're gonna have your beams that bright, just go around," ." She glared into the rearview mirror and signaled for the person to pass her. The car didn't pass, rather, it sped up so that it was riding right on her bumper.

Reese sped up, to try putting some space between herself and the car that was tailing her, but he only sped up and closed the distance between them. She was beginning to panic a little bit and gripped the wheel tightly with both hands. She had heard stories of sicko's following single women home and then attacking them. She was debating pulling out her phone and calling the police when her truck suddenly stopped as if it had slammed into something.

Reese screamed as she was flung forward Her head hit the steering wheel, leaving a long gash from the bridge of her nose to her left ear. She vaguely felt the car following her, clip the back of her truck as her vehicle was yanked sideways off the road by an invisible force.

The force of the sudden change of direction caused her head to slam into the driver's side window, blurring her vision and sending waves of nausea through her each time her head throbbed. She held her head tenderly in her hands and tried to get her bearings, only to be slammed into the window again as her truck collided with something solid—for real this time.

A weak groan escaped her lips as she looked out the shattered windshield and saw massive robots fighting in front of her.

* * *

"Starscream, what is the meaning of you calling us here?" Optimus demanded the silver Seeker. He stood defensively in front of the rest of his team.

"Oh please, isn't it obvious?" Starscream smirked. "We both have what the other wants. You have the polarity gauntlet, and we have energon. You are running dangerously low on it, are you not? I would be willing to trade you some in return for the gauntlet."

"Starscream, you know I cannot make that kind of trade. Allowing the polarity gauntlet to fall into decepticon hands is not something I am willing to allow, no matter how much energon you offer."

"Then, Optimus, you leave me no choice. Decepticons, Attack!" Knockout and Breakdown, who flanked their commander, rushed forward and attacked Arcee and Bumblebee. Bulkhead was rushed by several vehicon troopers who had followed behind Knockout and Breakdown, leaving Optimus to fight Starscream.

Within a matter of minutes, all the decepticons were either injured or incapacitated. Starscream's jaw dropped as he surveyed his fallen army. He fell to his knees and clasped his servos together in a pleading fashion.

"Optimus, please, I beg of you. Show mercy!" Starscream flinched and scooted back, trying to anticipate the Prime's actions.

"I think we are done here. I don't see any use in wasting more time 'negotiating' with Starscream,," Optimus told the other autobots as he turned from the sniveling seeker and prepared to call for a ground bridge back. As he lifted his servo to his helm to activate the comm link, his body shuddered and collapsed as electricity surged through him.

Knock Out, who was slightly dazed but fully conscious, had slowly gotten back on his pedes, snuck up behind Optimus, and stunned him with an energon prod. As Optimus' frame hit the ground, his grip was loosened from the polarity gauntlet. Starscream took his opportunity and quickly yanked the gauntlet out of the Prime's servos before any of the other autobots could react.

"Hah, the gauntlet is mine! Do you have any last words, Optimus Prime?" Starscream sneered as he pointed the gauntlet at Optimus. His attempt to activate the gauntlet on Optimus was thwarted, however, by Arcee running head long into his flank and tackling him, causing the electro-magnetic beam to shoot off into the desert night.

Starscream scrambled back to his pedes, glaring angrily at Arcee. "You will pay for that, two-wheeler," he growled as he turned to point the gauntlet at the femme, only to once again be thwarted in his plans to use the gauntlet on one of the autobots. This time, the interruption was , only this time, it was because a caused by a truck flying through the air and slamming into him, causing him to fall backwards with a pathetic shriek.

Arcee retrieved the gauntlet from the pinned Starscream and retreated back to the autobots. "Let's get back to base before anything else happens!"

The autobots turned and prepared to exit through a ground bridge that Ratchet had just opened, but they were stopped by a painful groan coming from the truck that Knockout and Breakdown had just lifted off their commander.

"Oh, what have we here?" Starscream sneered as he righted himself and peered into the windshield of the truck. He broke through the window with his servo and pulled out a shaken human girl.

* * *

Reese couldn't believe what she was seeing. Surely this had to all be a bad dream. She must have hit her head pretty hard to be seeing giant robots. She gingerly raised her hand to her head, gasping when she pulled it back. It was covered in blood.

She wasn't able to worry about her head wound very much, however, as she suddenly found herself being thrust forward by the metal hand that grasped her. Every movement worsened the nausea she already felt, and for a moment, she thought she might be sick.

"It seems as if fortune has smiled on me today,"the robot that currently held Reese in his servo grinned. He sounded like a smoker, like a six pack a day smoker. "Well, Optimus, it seems you have no choice now. Hand over the gauntlet, and I let the fleshling femme live."

"Starscream, let her go. This fight should not involve innocent humans!" Optimus took a threatening step forward.

"Oh, but she is far from innocent. As I see it, she attacked me with that truck of hers," Starscream sneered as he shook Reese around and held her at a distance from the autobots. Reese covered her mouth as she felt her stomach jump into her throat. Unfortunately, what little contents it had, came with it, and she found herself being sick all over Starscream's servo. The mess dripped down onto his stilettoed pedes. "Oh, that's disgusting," he groaned as he looked at the mess in revulsion.

Knockout, who had been watching the whole thing go down, nudged Breakdown and whispered, "Glad it was him and not me."

"You can say that again," Breakdown whispered back.

"Could you two shut it!" Starscream balked at the other two decepticons before turning back to the autobots. "Alright, Optimus, act now or forever hold your peace! Hand over the gauntlet or I squeeze this fleshling into pulp. It has already purged on me, so crushing it couldn't be much worse."

"Very well, you leave me no choice," Optimus responded coolly as he cautiously stepped forward, holding the polarity gauntlet out towards the seeker commander.

Starscream snatched the gauntlet from Optimus with his free servo, and once it was safely in his possession, he unceremoniously dropped Reese into Optimus' now empty servos.

Reese curled into a tiny ball in the Prime's servo's, trembling violently. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the world from spinning around her. This had to be a dream. A horrible, horrible, dream. She opened her eyes a sliver, only to see the distorted face of another robot staring down at her with concern. Her eyes blurred and she felt herself drifting from consciousness. This was the strangest nightmare she had ever had.

* * *

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Optimus Prime," Starscream taunted as he and the other decepticons retreated through their own ground bridge, taking the polarity gauntlet with them.

Optimus couldn't care less about Starscream or the gauntlet at that moment. He was too concerned for the human that lay unconscious in his servos. Her arms and face were covered in blood and it looked like she had a large contusion on the side of her head.

"Ratchet, we are returning now. Please prepare med bay, as there has been a casualty." Optimus commed their medic, who was back at the base, before stepping through the ground bridge portal. The other autobots followed behind, all of them concerned as to what would happen now that Starscream had the polarity gauntlet, and they had an injured human to take care of.

On the other side of the portal, Ratchet had just started getting the med bay set up, only to find all of the team returning in good condition. "Optimus, you all seem to be fine, who is the casualty you menti-" Ratchet stopped mid word as his optics fell to the girl, who was still curled in the fetal position in Optimus' servos. "Primus! What happened?"

"Starscream got ahold of the polarity gauntlet and accidently dragged an innocent human's vehicle into the battle. She is badly injured. We ended up having to relinquish the gauntlet to Starscream in order to save her," Optimus explained disappointedly. He was disappointed in losing the gauntlet, and disappointed in himself for not being able to protect humanity as he would have liked.

"I see, well my Cybertronian medical expertise is not going to be of any help to her. You would be better off just taking her to the hospital," Ratchet grunted. He didn't particularly care for the indigenous life of the planet that he and his autobot compatriots were stuck on. They were more of a nuisance than anything else.

"She has seen both us and the Decepticons. I worry that they might try to come after her. Furthermore, she is going to have questions when she awakens, and it's only fair that we offer her answers." Optimus argued with his medic.

"Fine, Fine, I will contact Nurse Darby and have her come and take a look at the injured human," Ratchet huffed as he turned to the communications terminal and pulled up Nurse Darby's number. "In the meantime, Bumblebee, go and get the spare gurney out of the storage bay. It won't do to have her laying on a metal medical berth."

" _Right away_!" Bumblebee whirred through his artificial voice box, and he made his way towards one of the storage bays that were in the large autobot base.

Optimus, on the other hand, worriedly looked down at the still, unconscious form in his servos. He knew he would never be able to forgive himself if she died because of a battle that was never meant to affect her planet. "I'm so sorry," He mumbled softly as he laid her down gently on the gurney that Bumblebee brought out. "I will make this right. I promise."

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 **Thanks so very much for reading! please be sure to leave a review so I know how I did! Also, if you have any suggestions of things you would like to see happen, please be sure to let me know! Anyways, I hope y'all have a wonderful blessed day!**


	2. Introductions

**Aaaaaaand Here we have Chapter 2! This is the rewritten chapter, so I hope you enjoy!**

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 **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.**

 **Introductions**

Bright lights, sharp pains, hushed voices and beeping, these were all sensations that Reese felt as she began to come to. She deduced that she was probably in a hospital, but she couldn't quite remember why. What had happened? Why did everything hurt? She needed to find answers.

Begrudgingly, Reese opened her eyes, squinting as her pupils constricted as they were exposed to the bright light of the room. As soon as her eyes adjusted, she surveyed her surroundings. She was not in a hospital room like she had originally thought. She was in a concrete room with bright fluorescent lights and grey walls. She lay on a gurney in the corner of the room, hooked up to what appeared to be a portable IV drip, as well as some vital monitors.

"What the what?" she thought as she took in her surroundings. It occurred to her that she should probably be panicked by her strange location, but her brain was still too groggy to properly react. She instead took to inspecting her own condition. She was covered in cuts and bruises. She reached up and touched her face, feeling the stitches that spanned from her left ear to the bridge of her nose. The wound was going to leave a nasty scar, of this Reese was sure. Flashes of what had happened suddenly began flooding back into her brain, one after the other. Screeching tires, shattering glass, giant robots, searing pain, the memories overwhelmed her mind faster than she could comprehend them. Her hands instinctively covered her face and head as she screamed, trying to release the rapidly building tension in her body.

A lady with black hair, pulled into a low ponytail, and teal scrubs came running into the room. She tried to pry Reese's hands away from her face, but Reese wouldn't let her.

"Honey, I need you to let me help you," The lady spoke sternly but also comfortingly to the panicking girl. "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

Reese knew this lady meant no harm, and that she was just trying to help, but the flashback memories were too much for her to handle. They needed to stop. Everything needed to stop. She hyperventilated as she continued fighting against the woman.

The woman used her full strength to force Reese's hands away from her face, and make the girl look her in the eye. "Look at me. you're okay!" The woman tried desperately to calm the thrashing girl.

Reese looked into the woman's eyes and the woman flinched as she saw the pain and terror that were emanating from Reese's own. "It's okay honey, you are going to be okay. You are safe now."

Reese forced her breathing to slow, trying her best to listen to the soothing words that the woman was saying to calm her down. Her hands were still violently trembling, but at least she was able to breathe somewhat normally, and she wasn't screaming anymore.

"That's right. Easy breaths. You are doing just fine," the woman soothed Reese, rubbing a hand in gentle circles on the girl's back. "You gave us quite a scare there. I'm glad to see that you are finally awake."

"What… what happened? I remember crashing, and giant talking robots. I'm not crazy, I promise."

"I know, it's okay. You don't have to explain. Right now, you just need to focus on getting better. Answers will come with time. In the meantime, would you mind telling me how you are feeling?"

"Like I was just hit by a train…" Reese muttered, holding a hand gently to her head.

"Well, from what I heard, what you experienced was probably just as bad. Bless your heart, you have been through a lot." The woman sat down on the gurney beside Reese, continuing to rub the girl's back. "I'm Nurse Darby, by the way. What is your name?"

"Reese Shields," Reese said softly, barely above a whisper. She could feel her strength lessening with every second.

"Well Reese, I'm here to make sure you make a speedy recovery. For now, you just need to rest, okay?" Nurse Darby helped Reese to lay back down, brushing the girl's bangs out of her eyes. "If you need anything, just holler."

"Thank you, Nurse Darby," Reese mumbled as she felt herself slipping back into sleep. Maybe all of this had just been an incredibly crazy dream, and when she woke up, she would be back in her own bed.

* * *

Reese woke up with a start, confused once again by her surroundings. So that whole incident hadn't been a dream after all. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room again, trying to see if she could gather any more information to where she might be. Unfortunately, the little room was very sparsely furnished. There was a small table and chair set in the back corner, and those bright fluorescent lights, but other than that, there was nothing identifiable about the room.

Feeling slightly better than the previous time she had arrived in consciousness land, Reese sat up and swung her legs over the side of the gurney. She needed to figure out where she was. That nurse had said that she would get answers in time, but when would that be?

She gingerly put weight on her legs, vaguely wondering if they would be able to support her, which they were. She noticed that she was no longer tethered to an IV drip. The needle was still securely in place in her hand, but since she wasn't connected to anything, she could get up and move around freely.

Quietly, Reese made her way to the door at the front of the room. She wondered if it would be locked. Was she a prisoner? It didn't seem like she was. She reached out and turned the handle on the door, and it swung open easily. The hallway outside was dimly lit but otherwise seemed cleaned and maintained. Where was she?

She slid out of the doorway and into the hallway. From down the hall she could hear voices and see a brighter light, so that was where her feet carried her. She stepped out of the hallway and into a large, brightly lit room, gaping at the enormity of everything. Then, she saw the autobots. In a panic, she yelped and stumbled backwards as memories of her last encounter with the giant robots rushed through her mind. She scooted against the wall and covered her hands over her head, afraid that perhaps she might have been seen.

Everyone in the room seemed startled by the girl's sudden appearance and reaction. A large yellow and black robot stepped forward and knelt down a little, looking worriedly down at Reese. He started to say something, but a much larger blue and red robot stopped him by placing a servo on the smaller bot's shoulder plating.

"She is afraid and has every reason to be. Give her a minute," the robot said in a calm, deep voice. The smaller bot looked worriedly from Reese to the larger bot, and then stood up and backed away, giving Reese a little bit of space.

Reese still cowered in the corner, afraid to look up at the robots that were watching her curiously. She felt nauseous at the thought that one of them might try and grab her and squeeze her to death again. What were these robots, and why was she here among them?

"Please don't be afraid. We aren't here to hurt you, I promise," the larger bot said after a while of silence. Reese instinctively tightened into a smaller ball at the sound of the bot's voice, even though she knew he was telling her that he wasn't going to hurt her. It was an utterly terrifying experience, despite the bot's attempts to reassure the girl. "Reese, I promise that we are not a threat. We are the ones who saved you, not the ones who hurt you."

Reese looked up at the mention of her name. If they knew her name, then that meant that they must have talked to Nurse Darby, since the nurse was the only person she had told her name since arriving at this strange facility. If they hadn't hurt Nurse Darby, then they probably wouldn't hurt her either, right? The large blue and red bot was kneeling down, much like the smaller black and yellow one had at first. Even though he was kneeling, he still towered well above Reese. It was like talking to a talking metal building. Despite his intimidating appearance and size, the robot's blue optics were gentle and full of concern.

Upon seeing the genuine emotion in the massive robot's optics, Reese slowly uncurled herself from the tight ball that she had been in, though she still kept her distance from the bot. "What are you?" She whispered, afraid that her words might anger the robot.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms who hail from the planet Cybertron. We have taken residence on your planet to protect it from the decepticons, who wish to ravage and conquer it."

"Soooo…. You're aliens," Reese summed up, staring at the robot in disbelief. Why are these decepticons on Earth?"

"They traveled here after our home world was destroyed due to ages of war. Your planet is rich in the ore that we require to survive, which is what drew the decepticons here in the first place. This war should have never affected your planet, or your kind, and for that I sincerely apologize." The giant robot's optics looked remorseful as he answered Reese's questions.

"So, that big silver robot that hurt me, was he one of these decepticons?"

"Yes, he is the second in command of the decepticons, answering only to Megatron, the decepticon leader. I apologize that you were dragged into that battle. It should have never affected you. We brought you back here, to our base, since you were injured and needed medical attention. Unfortunately, since the decepticons now associate you with us, they will stop at nothing to come after you again. I fear that it might be too dangerous for you to leave the confines of the base for a while, at least until things calm down a little bit."

"Wait, so you are forcing me to stay here?" Reese looked taken aback. Did that mean she was a prisoner after all?

"Not forcing, but highly suggesting. I cannot risk putting your life in danger again so soon," The robot informed calmly.

"With all due respect Mr. Robot Sir, I have a life that I have to live. I have a job that I have to go to. I will be fired if I don't show up to work. I appreciate you trying to protect me and helping me out and all, but I can't just wait around and do nothing."

"Oh, my apologies, I somehow overlooked introducing myself. My name is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of the autobots."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Optimus Prime sir, I didn't realize that you were the leader of these other robots." Reese immediately felt her face flush at the fact that she had just talked so informally to the leader of this alien race. Had she just offended him?

"There is no need to apologize. You are quite alright," Optimus reassured warmly. As serious and official as he came across, Reese could tell that he had a soft heart (or whatever it was these robot aliens had inside of them).

Reese opened her mouth to say something in return, but she was cut off by a very official looking man running (could it be called running? It looked more like a beached whale struggling to make its way back to the ocean) into the large room.

"Prime, we have a problem. Reese has gone missi-," the man stopped mid word as he realized that Reese was already standing in front of the Prime. "Oh, it seems you two have already met."

"Yes, Agent Fowler, I have already explained everything to Reese. I apologize for not notifying you sooner," Optimus addressed the man.

Agent Fowler wiped a few beads of sweat from his brow as he struggled to catch his breath. It looked like his little sprint had taken a lot out of him. "Reese, would you mind if we had a word?"

Reese looked at the taller, African American man with a bit of apprehension. He didn't seem like he was going to get onto her, but when an adult asks to have a word, it usually isn't a good time. She gave a glance up at Optimus, as if asking whether or not she should trust this man, and Optimus gave a nod.

"This is Agent Fowler. He is our liaison to the human world. You can trust him."

Seeming satisfied with Optimus' introduction of the man, Reese walked over to Agent Fowler as he led her up some stairs and too a platform where there were some seating arrangements. Fowler sat down on the sofa and motioned for Reese to take a seat in the cushy chair that sat across from it. Reese complied, appreciating being able to ease into the comfortable chair.

"How are you feeling, Reese?" Agent Fowler started the conversation. He carried himself with a completely different air now. He was no longer wheezing and sputtering as he had been when he came sprinting into the main room, rather, he was very calm and collected, holding a serious and professional demeanor.

"I mean, I'm still pretty sore, and very freaked out, but I think I'm okay. This is just a lot of information to take in. I mean, it's not everyday that you find out that aliens are real."

"It is understandable that you would be overwhelmed. Normally, civilians aren't supposed to come in contact with the autobots. It was an unfortunate accident that you were pulled into one of their fights. I just wanted to let you know that you will be safe here, and that you can trust the autobots."

"Yea, I talked with Optimus for a few minutes before you arrived. He seems to genuinely care about earth and humankind. It's kind of odd. I would have figured that aliens would be here to conquer the earth, not to protect it."

"Well, the whole conquering the Earth thing is what the decepticons are trying to do, but Optimus and his team are doing everything they can to keep that from happening. By the way, I'm sure that Optimus has made you aware that you should probably stay here at the base until things calm down. Normally, I would disagree, but with all the decepticon activity lately, and with how you don't have a personal guardian, I can't help but take Optimus' side on this one. They will be best able to keep you safe."

"Mr. Fowler, I appreciate the protection, but what about my job? I can't just go MIA for who knows how long and not let anybody know. I mean, I don't have any really close family that would worry, and I don't have any friends outside of work, but still, people will wonder where I have gone."

"Don't worry about your job. I have contacted your employer and let him know that there has been an accident. You have been given recovery leave for a few weeks. That should be plenty of time for things to calm down."

"A few weeks!? I can barely get a single day off when I'm sick. How did you do that?" Reese stared wide eyed at the agent.

"I'm a high-ranking government official, I can do a lot of things."

"If I'm out of work for a few weeks, how will I pay my bills? Will they even let me back after being gone that long? I can't just go off the grid so easily," Reese continued to argue with the agent. She wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of being stuck inside a dreary old base with a bunch of aliens for who knew how long.

"Everything will be taken care of, so you have nothing to worry about. We are having some of your things brought from your home so that you will be able to live a little more comfortably here. In the meantime, you would probably do well to get acquainted with the autobots." Agent Fowler did not seem deterred by the girl's arguments. He was clearly good at his job and already had everything covered. Reese didn't have any other choice but to comply.

"Very well, but I expect that you will let me know as soon as things are safe enough for me to go back home."

"I promise. Like I said, you have nothing to worry about. Everything is under control. Both Nurse Darby and I will check in on you from time to time to make sure that you are doing okay. Besides, you won't be alone the whole time. There are a few other kids who have made contact with the autobots. They hang out around the base during most of their free time. They will probably arrive around this afternoon, after school."

"Wait, there are other humans who have met the autobots? I thought they were supposed to keep themselves hidden from people."

"They are. Unfortunately, there have been a few other instances where, like you, humans found themselves in the midst of scuffles between the autobots and the decepticons."

"Oh, I see. Well, I mean, it isn't surprising. Honestly, I'm surprised more people don't know about the autobots by now."

"We work very hard to keep them under the radar, and we would like to keep it that way. When you are allowed to go back to your daily life, you are not to tell anyone about the autobots or the decepticons. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir," Reese assured.

"Good, then I think we are done here. Feel free to roam about the base, but you shouldn't leave without either my or Optimus' permission."

"Thank you, sir," Reese stood up and shook Agent Fowler's hand. It seemed like the right thing to do to end the conversation.

Agent Fowler held up Reese's hand, that still had the IV port attached to it. "Since it seems that you are doing better, I will have Nurse Darby remove this for you. It is probably uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"Yes sir," Reese nodded. She had hoped that the agent would have mentioned something about it. It was really beginning to sting a little bit, and she desperately wanted to get it out as quickly as possible.

"No worries, I will let her know and she will come and take it out for you."

"Thank you again, sir."

"Oh, you don't have to keep calling me sir. Just call me Agent Fowler. That's what everyone calls me."

"Thank you, Agent Fowler," Reese stood a little awkwardly as she didn't quite know what else to say. Thankfully the awkward moment didn't last long, as Agent Fowler turned and made his way to the elevator.

After Agent Fowler had left, Reese turned and looked back at the room full of giant robots. Optimus Prime had since left the main room of the base, where he had gone, she had no clue. She decided she might as well introduce herself to the other bots that were there, starting with the orange and white one that was closest to her. She walked over to the railing of the platform, which came up to the monitors that the bot was surveying. She opened her mouth to say something but was immediately cut off.

"Not now human, can't you see that I'm busy?" The bot said bruskly. He didn't even look away from the giant keypad interface where he was working. Reese looked a little hurt and turned away, disheartened. If this was going to be the response that she got from all the other autobots, then she had no desire to be around them at all.

"Don't mind him, kid. Ratchet just takes a while to warm up to people," One of the other robots quickly spoke up when he saw Reese's disheartened demeanor. He was a bulky, green bot. "My name's Bulkhead, by the way."

Reese turned to the large green bot a little awkwardly. "Oh, okay," She mumbled, not really sure what else to say. "I mean, sorry, um, my name is Reese. It's nice to meet you." She stumbled over her words.

"Haha, relax kid, I promise that the rest of us aren't as uptight as Ratchet," Bulkhead laughed at her awkward attempt to introduce herself. "Anyways, it's nice to meet you, Reese. I hope you don't mind hanging out with a bunch of alien robots for a couple weeks."

"Oh, uh, I don't guess so," Reese stammered.

"Don't worry, you will get used to things around here. C'mon, I will introduce you to the others," Bulkhead motioned for Reese to follow him as he led her over to the other two autobots who Reese had yet to meet. "This here is Bumblebee. He is our scout," Bulkhead motioned to the black and yellow bot who had reached out to Reese when she had first stumbled across the autobots.

" _Hellooo, it's nice to meet you! Sorry for scaring you earlier,"_ the scout whirred in a friendly manner.

"Hello, it's okay. I was just kind of freaked out, that's all." Reese gave a small wave back to the bot.

"Huh, I was just about to translate for Bee, but it looks like I don't need to," Bulkhead noted with surprise. "You are the only other human, other than Raf, who can actually understand him."

"Oh really? I guess his whirrs and beeps just make sense to me."

"Hey, less work for me to do then, cuz that means I don't have to always be translating for him."

" _Oh, c'mon Bulk, do you have to make it sound like its such a burden_?" Bee whirred, annoyance quite evident in his artificial voice.

"No, no, that's not what I meant…. Sorry Bee," Bulkhead looked away sheepishly.

"Don't worry Bumblebee, I don't think it's a burden. Honestly, I think your voice makes you unique and cool!"

" _Thank you, Reese, I appreciate that_ ," Bee smiled down with his optics. His battle mask covered his mouth, so Reese couldn't see whether or not he was smiling, but she didn't need to because the smile clearly reached his optics.

Reese smiled back up at the bot, giving him a thumbs up. She had a feeling that Bee was probably going to be the one she got along with the best. He was pretty chill, and he also seemed to be the youngest of the bots at the base, so he was probably closest to her age range.

"Anyways, carrying on, over here we have Arcee. She may be small, but don't let her size fool you. She packs quite a punch," Bulkhead turned Reese's attention to a blue and pink female robot. She was definitely the smallest of all the autobots that Reese had met, though she was still giant compared to human standards.

"Nice to meet you Arcee. I'm Reese," the girl tried to give a warm greeting to the femme. It was nice to know that she wasn't the only girl around the base, even if the only other one was a robot.

"Hello Reese, it is nice to meet you too," The femme gave a curt smile but turned and went off to another room with some Cybertronian equipment. Despite her attempts to be friendly, she definitely didn't seem like the talkative type.

"Was it something I said?" Reese wondered aloud as she looked in the same direction that Arcee had just walked off in.

"No, that's just Cee. She hasn't quite gotten over Cliff Jumper's passing. Cliff was her partner, but unfortunately, he passed earlier this year in a fight with the decepticons. Cee hasn't really been the same since. Give her time though, I'm sure she will warm up to you eventually. She seems to have warmed up to Jack pretty well."

"Who's Jack?" Reese implored Bulkhead curiously.

"Oh, he is one of the other humans who hangs out here during his free time. He is also Arcee's charge," Bulkhead explained.

"Charge?"

"That is what we call the humans that we are in charge of protecting. Bumblebee has Rafael, I have Miko, and Arcee has Jack. You will like them. they are pretty cool. Actually, I think that we were about to go leave to pick them up from school, so Bee, Cee, and I will be back in a little bit."

"Wait, how do you go outside without being noticed? Aren't you supposed to keep yourselves hidden from people?" Reese seemed surprised that the autobots would just up and leave to get the kids like it was no big deal.

"We use our alternate form when we are outside of the base," Bulkhead explained as his metal plating began shifting. In a matter of seconds, he had transformed from being a giant green robot, into being a large green Hummer.

"WHOA! Ya'll can transform into cars!?" Reese stared, mouth agape.

"Yea, that is kind of what we do," Bulkhead chuckled at her response. "you will get used to it, don't worry." With that, he sped out of the base. Bumblebee and Arcee transformed as well and followed behind Bulkhead. Bumblebee's form was that of a flashy muscle car, and Arcee was a motorcycle.

Reese just stood there, watching the exit that the autobots had just left through. This situation seemed to be getting crazier and crazier. Not only was she now living among giant alien robots, but they were robots who could turn into vehicles!

She was distracted from her amazement, however, by a bunch of error messages popping up on the computer system where the autobot known as Ratchet was working. He breathed out what sounded like a Cybertronian curse word as he tried to figure out how to get rid of the error message. He frantically typed on the Cybertronian keypad that was attached to the computer, only for the whole screen to turn to static, before eventually turning off.

"Blasted earth computers. How am I supposed to get anything done around here?" Ratchet huffed as he knelt down, trying to look into the wiring underneath the computer frame.

"I could take a look at it for you. I mean, I work on computers for my job, so I might could figure out the problem," Reese offered to help the robot.

"Please, these computers have been integrated with Cybertronian technology. I doubt that you would even know what you were looking at, even if you tried," The Ratchet scoffed, refusing to even turn to look at Reese when he spoke.

"Hey, I understand a lot more than you give me credit for. Just because I'm human doesn't mean that I'm stupid!" Reese glared at the bot, trying to keep her temper in check. She knew that she had a tendency to lose her cool, but she didn't want to get on these giant robot's bad sides, so she calmed herself with a few deep breaths.

She watched as Ratchet continued struggling with the cords underneath the computer. His servos were much too large to accurately do anything with the human tech. After a few minutes, she watched him throw down his tools in exasperation and stalk off to another room, muttering something about having Rafael fix it later.

After Reese was convinced that Ratchet would probably be away for a bit, she walked over to the computer terminal and began taking a look at its internal components. Ratchet was right when he had said that much of the internal workings of the computer had been integrated with Cybertronian technology. That being said, the basic functionality was still pretty straight forward. Within a few minutes of searching, Reese found the cause of all the problems. A wire had frayed and so the signal was weak getting through to the machine. Ratchet's fumbling around had also unhooked a few wires as well. In a matter of minutes Reese had reattached all the cables and applied some electrical tape to the cord. It would serve as a temporary fix until they could get a replacement wire.

She climbed out from under the computer console and rebooted the machine, grinning triumphantly as the computer softly whirred back to life and the blueish green screen illuminated once again.

"How did you… er… never mind," Reese heard Ratchet stutter as he walked back into the main room to find his workstation back online. He walked over to the computer and checked all the systems; everything seemed to be running perfectly.

"By the way, you have a fraying cable under there. I put some electrical tape on it, so it should work for now, but you should probably make sure to get it replaced soon," Reese called over nonchalantly. She didn't expect the bot to show much gratitude, so she didn't bother to even look over in his direction. Rather, she sank down onto the sofa, holding her head tenderly. The headache that had plagued her all morning was now a roaring migraine, and it threatened to make her stomach revolt against her.

"I suppose I should thank you for your help. I underestimated your abilities," Ratchet apologized, albeit a bit begrudgingly.

"Don't mention it," Reese waved her hand dismissively before curling into a tight ball on the sofa and shielding her eyes from the bright florescent lights overhead. Every sound, the clock ticking on the wall, Ratchet typing on the keypad, the fans rattling in the vent on the wall, all these sounds echoed in Reese's head, making her wish they would all stop. She groaned and put a pillow over her head, trying to block out as much stimulation as possible.

"Are you okay?" Ratchet stopped what he was doing for a moment to see what was causing the human to make such an uncomfortable noise.

"I think my head is going to explode," Reese's muffled voice came from beneath the pillow that still covered her head.

"Oh, that is correct. Nurse Darby said that you had a concussion and that too much stimulation would probably make it worse. I will call her in here," Ratchet seemed to realize that, though Reese was only a human, she was still a patient, and he should at least show some concern for her health, given that he was a medic. He didn't even have to call Nurse Darby, however, as she pulled her car into the main room of the base about the time Ratchet was preparing to comm her cell.

"Sorry I'm so late getting here. There was an emergency at the hospital, and I had to attend to that first. Agent Fowler told me that Reese was doing better and could probably have her IV removed," June explained her tardiness as she climbed out of her car. "By the way, do you know where Reese is? Did she go back to her room?"

"She is up here, and she looks like she could use some help," Ratchet motioned to the sofa where Reese was still curled into a tiny ball.

"Oh my! Reese, are you alright?" June rushed to Reese's side, rubbing her gently on the back.

"My head…" Was all Reese could muster to say, still burying her head under the sofa cushions.

"You should have been resting. What were you doing?" June helped Reese into a sitting position and pulled her to her feet.

"Fixing Ratchet's computer…" Reese held her stomach with one hand and squeezed the bridge of her nose with the other. Why had Nurse Darby made her stand up?

"You shouldn't have been fixing anything! Here, let me help you back to your room so you can rest with the lights off," June helped Reese down the stairs and back to the little room where her gurney was.

Reese laid down, instantly curling back into the fetal position, which for some reason, was the most comfortable way for her to lay in her given state.

"Here, take these and sip on some ginger ale," Nurse Darby handed Reese a glass of the ginger soda and a couple of tablets, painkillers, Reese presumed. She gratefully took the tablets from the nurse and washed them down with a swig of the sweet, bubbly, beverage, the ginger in the soda already helping her stomach, just a little.

Once Reese had taken the tablets and laid back down, Nurse Darby carefully removed the IV from the girl's hand. "That should be more comfortable. You just rest and keep sipping on that soda. I will check in on you from time to time," Nurse Darby said as she disposed of the IV and turned off the light in the room.

The darkness paired with the painkillers and ginger ale were just what Reese needed to drift back to sleep. It had been a crazy day. She had met giant alien robots that could turn into cars, for crying out loud, but that didn't stop her from lapsing into a deep and much needed nap.

* * *

Reese awoke a couple hours later, her head feeling better than it had previously. There was still some residual throbbing in it, but that was to be expected with a concussion.

Hearing voices outside, Reese climbed off the gurney, and bringing her glass of ginger ale with her, began making her way back to the main room of the base. She stopped at the threshold of the large entryway, seeing Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead all doing different activities with some children.

The Japanese girl, who was showing Bulkhead the newest addition to her guitar pick collection, was the first to notice Reese enter the room. She set her collection down and bounced over to Reese excitedly.

"Hey! I'm Miko. What's your name? When did you get here? How did you get that crazy gash across your face?" the girl peppered Reese with questions, not really giving her a chance to answer any of them.

Reese self consciously lifted her free hand to cover the cut that spanned from her ear to the bridge of her nose. It had several stitches in it, and it was going to leave a nasty scar. So far, this girl was not making a good first impression.

"Whoa there Miko, calm down. Don't bombard her with questions like that," one of the other kids said as he came up behind Miko. He was tall, taller than Reese, and had jet black hair. He looked to be about a year older than Miko, sixteen maybe? He grabbed Miko by the shoulder and pulled her back a little bit, giving Reese room to breathe. "Sorry about her, she isn't great at introductions," the boy said kindly, though he gave a sideways glare at Miko. "I'm Jack, by the way. What's your name?"

"Reese," Reese responded quietly. She was a little overwhelmed by the whole situation.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Reese," Jack smiled warmly. "Oh, by the way, this is Miko, though you probably already figured that out," He motioned to the Japanese girl who was skulking a little at being interrupted from her interrogating. "Oh, and Rafael is the kid over there," Jack motioned to a very short Hispanic boy wearing glasses. He was sitting on Bumblebee's shoulder plating with his laptop open. He stopped typing for a moment to wave at Reese.

"It's nice to meet you all as well," Reese said as she set her glass of ginger ale down. She really wasn't sure what else to say, given how overwhelmed she was.

"So… I don't mean to pry, but we are kind of curious as to how you got here. The bots told us there was going to be another human around here for a while, but they didn't give us any details," Jack explained, prompting Reese to tell her story.

"Well, my truck kind of got pulled into a fight between the autobots and the decepticons. I guess I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Optimus told me that I should probably hang out here until things are safe for me to go back home."

"How did you get the gash on your face, though? Is it going to leave a scar? It's probably going to leave a scar… But that's okay, because battle scars are so cool!" Miko butted in.

"I don't remember much of the fight. I kind of hit my head on the steering wheel, and the window, so my memories of everything that happened are a little fuzzy. I must have gotten the cut when I hit the steering wheel," Reese mumbled, turning away slightly and trying to hide the wound.

"Don't worry, the autobots will take good care of you! You will find that it's pretty awesome to get to hang out with them," Rafael jumped into the conversation as well. It seemed he had abandoned his computer and Bumblebee to finally meet Reese up close.

"Thank you, Rafael, I am sure they keep things exciting," Reese smiled, trying to include the younger boy into the conversation.

"Oh, all my friends call me Raf, so you can call me that too, if you like," Raf adjusted his glasses shyly.

"Well thank you, Raf. Actually, thank you to all of you. I am glad I'm not going to be the only human hanging around here all the time. It will be nice to have some other people to talk to," Reese addressed all three kids, though she had a feeling like she was probably going to get along best with Jack and Raf.

Transitioning into life at the base was going to be difficult, but hopefully the three kids would be good company, and maybe she would even become friends with some of the bots themselves. Who knew what the next few weeks had in store for her!

* * *

 **So, as I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, this the the recently rewritten version. Thanks for reading it to the end! I hope that you enjoyed and that you continue to enjoy the rest of my story. Just as a heads up, the next chapter is probably going to be pretty janky compared to this one, since it hasn't been rewritten yet, so just bear that in mind if you decide to keep reading! I will continue updating, so keep your eyes peeled and follow my story so you don't miss out on anything! I hope all of you have a lovely blessed day :) - Lucy**


	3. Freedom?

**This is the rewritten version of chapter three! Thanks for reading and enjoy!  
**

* * *

 **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.**

 **Freedom?**

So far, a week had passed, and Reese was starting to go stir crazy. Sure, the bots were nice, and the kids were fun to hang out with, but she was bored out of her mind. Neither Optimus, nor Agent Fowler would let her leave the base, and she was getting pretty tired of the gray walls that she had come to be familiar with.

She walked down one of the many hallways in the base. It was easy to get lost, which Reese already had done on multiple occasions. She was starting to get a grasp of where everything was though. She came up towards the training room, relieved to find that it was unoccupied. She closed the door behind her and pulled the punching bag out of the corner. She had been taking her frustrations out on it in secret for the past few days, and ooooh how it felt good.

With each jab, Reese tried to release something that was stressing her out. The whole accident, her being confined in this stuffy old base, her boredom, her missing her parents… If they had been alive, what would they have wondered? Would they have thought she had just run away? They would have never believed her if she had told them that she was living with a bunch of giant robot aliens.

Reese hauled off with a particularly forceful jab, causing the whole stand that the punching bag was on to wobble slightly.

" _Whoa there, you pack quite a punch_ ," Bumblebee's distinctive voice whirred from behind her. She gasped and whipped around sharply, startled. Somehow, she had been so lost in thought that she hadn't heard the bot come in (which meant that she must have been quite distracted, since these robots weren't exactly the stealthiest, given their size).

"Bee, you scared me! Don't sneak up on people like that," Reese chastised the bot, wondering how long he had been watching.

" _Sorry Reese, I didn't mean to scare you. I had just come to tell you that Optimus wanted to talk with you about something. He sent me to go find you,"_ Bumblebee explained.

"Optimus wants to talk to me? Why? I haven't done anything wrong," Reese was immediately on the defensive. She knew the autobot leader was a very kind and gentle bot but being summoned to talk to him felt like she was being summoned to talk to the president or something. She hadn't really talked to him since that first day when she met all the bots. He mostly kept to his quarters or busied himself with missions. The only reason he would want to talk to her would be to get on to her, right?

" _Oh, you aren't in trouble, don't worry about that_ ," Bumblebee tried to reassure the girl. " _I think he just wanted to check in on you, see how you were doing_."

"Doesn't Optimus have more important things he could be doing than talking to little ol' me? I mean, he is your leader after all. Why would he want to check in on me?"

" _Optimus isn't just some big official bot. I mean, he is, but he doesn't act all high and mighty. That's one of the reasons I joined his team. He cares about each member of his team, and currently, that includes you too. He just wants to check in and see how you are acclimating to life here at the base. He feels really bad about how you got caught up in all of this_."

"Oh, well, I guess I can go talk to him," Reese finally conceded. The Prime intimidated her a bit, but he seemed friendly enough the last time she had talked to him, so she mustered up her courage and followed Bee back into the main room of the base where Optimus was waiting.

Optimus turned and looked down at the Reese with a gentle smile. He could sense the nervousness emanating from the girl, so he tried to seem as kind and unthreatening as possible.

"Hello Reese, I just wanted to check in with you. I have talked with Agent Fowler, and I think that we might have some good news for you," He said as he leaned down so that he was at least somewhat closer to her height.

"Wait, do you mean I can go home?" Reese looked up at the Prime with surprise. This was not what she had been expecting.

"Well, not exactly. We talked and decided that since things have been quite for a bit, that it would be okay for you to return to your earthly occupation. We do still want you to stay at base when you aren't out and about, though.

"Oh… I mean, thank you. I appreciate that you are letting me go back to work," Reese looked a little disappointed. While she was excited about the idea of going back to work and getting out of the base, she had hoped that she would be able to go back to her everyday life. It looked like it was going to be a little while longer before that happened though.

"Does the prospect of going back to your earthly occupation not excite you?" Optimus looked down at Reese a little confused.

"No, it's not that. I just… I had kind of hoped that I could go back home and get back to my usual life. It's not that I don't enjoy hanging around you guys, but I would just like to get back to the way things were."

"I understand. We did not want to make you feel like a prisoner among our base. We just wanted to make sure that you were safe until the decepticon activity around died down a little. I am sure that you will be able to return to your home in due time."

"Thank you, Optimus," Reese smiled as genuinely as possible. Sure, this wasn't exactly what she had been hoping, but it was sure better than being stuck in the base all day. "Oh, by the way, I was wondering If I would be allowed to head up to the top of the plateau… You know, to get some fresh air."

"That is fine," Optimus assured, much to Reese's excitement. She had literally been stuck inside this base, with no fresh air or sunshine for a whole week, and it was beginning to take its toll on her mental health.

Excitedly, she quickly made her way to the elevator. She would have run, but she didn't want the autobots to think she was desperate to get away from them. She stepped inside and hit the button that took the elevator all the way to the top.

Reese could feel an immediate boost in her mood as she stepped out into the warm desert air. It was bright and sunny, and a nice warm breeze carried up to the top of the plateau from the desert below.

A smile broke out on her face and she found herself running to the very edge of the cliff face, her hair blowing wildly around her as it was tossed and turned by the breeze. Sunlight had never felt so warm, the breeze had never smelled so fragrant. It felt as if she was being kissed by heaven itself.

With a contented sigh, she sat down and let her legs dangle over the edge of the cliff. It was a long way down, but heights had never really scared Reese anyways. As long as she kept most of her weight shifted away from the edge, she would be fine.

She leaned back, stretching her arms back behind her head and laid down so that the warm sunshine was beating down evenly across her face. Oh, it was wonderful. She closed her eyes and soaked up the sun's rays.

* * *

Reese must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, she was being startled awake by someone talking, or rather, whirring. Her eyes snapped open and she could see Bumblebee leaning over her curiously, probably wondering what she was doing.

In a panic, she scrambled to get up on her feet, but being as close to the edge as she was, her foot slipped on the edge when she tried to stand up. She felt her center of gravity lurch backwards as the ground was suddenly no longer beneath her, and with a scream, she found herself falling.

She reached for the edge of the cliff as she fell, but it was just barely out of reach by the time she thought to grab for it. Her life flashed before her eyes as she prepared to for the inevitable crash landing, but something cut those flashing moments short. That something was Bumblebee reaching down and grabbing her outstretched arm, causing her to jerk to a halt and slam into the wall of the cliff.

Dizzily, she looked up to see the black and yellow bot hanging halfway off the cliff, deep concern in his round, blue optics. Quickly, he scrambled up, out of his precarious position, pulling Reese up with him. He lifted her up and set her down safely away from the edge of the cliff.

It took her a hot minute to catch her breath, reveling in the fact that she was still alive.

" _I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?"_ Bumblebee whirred worriedly, looking Reese over for any possible injuries.

"Yea, just a little shaken up," Reese finally found her words and tried to reassure the bot. Other than the fact that her shoulder was throbbing from where it had been jerked when Bumblebee caught her, she was fine.

" _I had just come up here to check on you. You were up here for quite a while, and we were wondering how you were doing."_

 _"_ Oh, I must have fallen asleep."

"It is very peaceful up here, so I'm not surprised."

"Yea, though, I think I might have gotten a little sunburned," Reese touched her face gingerly, feeling it sting lightly under her touch.

"yea, it's a little red, but not too bad. Trust me, I have seen waaay worse. I went on a mission that was out near the beach, and some of the people out there looked like they had been doused in red energon."

"What's red energon? All I have ever seen is the blue stuff."

"Oh, it's a really rare type of energon that provides super speed when consumed, but its also bright red, just like the colour of those sunburned people on the beach," Bee whirred in a way that sounded like he was chuckling.

"Dang, I would hate to get a sunburned that badly. It must hurt pretty bad."

"Yea… Oh, by the way, Optimus talked with us about you going to work tomorrow. We have worked out a plan for how we are going to take you in and bring you back, if you want to hear it."

"Sure, but maybe we should head inside first, the longer I stay out here, the more burned I'm gonna get."

"yea, we should probably get you out of the sun for a bit," Bumblebee ushered Reese towards the Cybertronian sized elevator and followed her in. "Anyways, so we talked about how we are going to get you to and from work. We will all take turns taking you in, in the mornings, and then one of us will be there to pick you up in the afternoon when you get off. We won't be there while you are at work, but you should be safe there. Bulkhead will be taking you in in the morning, and I will be picking you up tomorrow afternoon. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yep, that sounds like a plan. I excited to finally be able to get out of the base. I just wish Optimus would let me go home already."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will be able to go back pretty soon. Things have been relatively calm, so I don't see why you shouldn't be allowed to go back home in the next few days," Bee whirred encouragingly.

"You think?"

"I mean, I don't know for certain, but it seems like a likely outcome."

"I hope so…" Reese smiled at the thought. Finally, things seemed to be looking up. Hopefully Bee was right, and she would be able to finally go back home and get back to her normal life.

* * *

 **Alrighty, I have finally gotten chapter 3 rewritten. I found this one kinda hard to rewrite, mostly because the original chapter three didn't have much interesting stuff happen in it. I definitely tried to make this one a little more interesting than last time, but its still one of those introductory chapters that set things up, so there isn't much to work with yet. Luckily, its relatively short, and hopefully stuff will start picking up in the next few chapters, so hang in there! Please review and let me know what you think of the story. That is a HUGE motivator for me to keep up my writing. Thanks again for reading, and as always, Have a lovely and blessed day!  
**


	4. Secrets

**This is the rewritten version of chapter four! Thanks for reading and enjoy! Also, please refer back to chapter 1 to see why all the later chapters are missing.  
**

* * *

 **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.**

 **Secrets**

Reese got up early the next morning to get ready for work. She donned her very basic uniform of a white button-up and a pair of khaki pants. Thanks to Agent Fowler, several amenities had been brought into the base from Reese's home, including her wardrobe and some of her furniture. The room she was in was now at least livable, having a proper bed, dresser, and vanity.

She sidled her way over to the vanity, sitting down in front of the large mirror. She cringed as her reflection stared back at her. She had never been terribly concerned with her looks, but now she was extremely self-conscious. She had medium length auburn hair that fell about her shoulders and framed her face, deep brown eyes, and a pretty smile. All those things, paired with her many freckles, made her quite a cute individual. Unfortunately, her face was now marred by an ugly scar that spanned from the bridge of her nose to her left ear. The stitches were still in it, and it was not a pretty sight.

As quickly as she possibly could, she brushed her hair and pulled it back into a high ponytail, her wispy side bangs falling loose from it and framing her face. She then grabbed her blue crystal necklace off the vanity and clasped it around her neck. It had been a gift from her grandfather, and she loved it dearly.

Now that she was ready, she grabbed her bag and got ready to leave. She walked into the main room of the base where Bulkhead was already waiting for her in his vehicle form.

"Hey, you ready to get going? We don't want you to be late on your first day back."

"Yep, all ready to go!"

"Well then let's get this show on the road! Hop in!" Bulkhead opened the passenger door of his vehicular form, closing it behind Reese as she climbed in.

The car was silent as he pulled out of the base and onto the main road leading into Jasper. Then, he spoke.

"You will have to show me where this place you work is located," the autobot insignia on bulkhead's steering wheel lit up each time he spoke.

"I will just plug it into the GPS on my phone; all you have to do is follow the directions it tells you."

"I don't know how I feel about being told what to do by a machine," Bulkhead joked as he began driving towards Jasper. Reese could tell he was joking and just chuckled lightly. "You got any preferences on music? I have the Slash Monkey disk in right now; it's Miko's favorite."

"What's Slash Monkey?" Reese queried curiously. She had never heard of the band.

"It's this group that makes insane screamo and metal music. They're great!" Bulkhead explained excitedly. Reese did not seem impressed though.

"How about something a little more… relaxing," She suggested, pulling up some soft piano music on her phone.

"Ah, so you're more of the classical type, huh?"

"Well, not just classical music. I also like electronic music, and some pop music too. I am just feeling a little stressed this morning, and classical music helps me relax."

"That makes sense."

The two rode in silence for the rest of the way to Reese's work, just enjoying the soft music that played from Reese's phone. Bulkhead pulled into the parking lot of Reese's workplace and opened the passenger door, letting her hop out.

"Thanks for the ride, Bulk!"

"Any time, kid. Just let us know when you get off work and one of us will be here to pick you up."

"Will do."

With a deep breath, Reese turned and opened the door to the store. It felt like it had been forever since she had been there, and it felt kinda weird coming back after everything that had happened.

"Hello Reese, I'm glad to see you're back on your feet. I was informed of what happened, and I'm so sorry to hear about the accident. Be sure to take it easy, okay?" Reese's manager greeted her as she came in.

"I will, and thanks." Reese smiled as she walked over to the desk where she usually worked. It was nice to be back.

* * *

Reese's shift went pretty smoothly, since not a lot of people needed assistance. The only people she ended up helping were a guy whose computer had been messed up by a virus, and a couple of people who needed some tech support. Reese packed up her things and phoned back to base, letting them know she was done. She stood outside and surveyed her surroundings while she waited for one of the autobots to drive up.

The first thing she noticed were the cars that were parked in the store lot. Most of them were the ones that belonged to the other employees, but there was one that stood out in particular. It was a black and green sports car.

Something about the car seemed vaguely familiar to Reese, but she couldn't quite place from where. It definitely wasn't a car one sees every day, but Reese couldn't remember where she had seen it before.

She didn't have to wonder long because Bumblebee came pulling into the parking lot to pick her up. Reese ran out to the car and hopped into the passenger seat.

"Hey Bee! How has your day been?" Reese adjusted her position in the seat and buckled her seat belt.

" _Eh, it's been pretty slow. We haven't had any major missions today. The others are currently out scouting for energon. What about you?_

"Was pretty slow too, which I guess is good, considering it's my first day back and all. It was really nice to get back behind the desk and get my mind off things."

 _"_ _Glad it went well though,"_ Bumblebee whirred as he pulled out of the driveway of the business and started driving back to base. He had just passed city limits when Reese sighed from the passenger seat and leaned her head against the window. " _Hey, you okay?"_ Bumblebee whirred in a concerned tone.

"Yea, I just wish I didn't have to go straight back to base. Don't get me wrong, the base is nice and all, but this is my first time out in a week, and I was hoping I could spend a little more time out and about. You know what I mean?" Reese stared at the desert landscape of Nevada listlessly.

 _"_ _Well, nobody said we had to go straight back to base after you got off of your human occupation,"_ Bumblebee had a mischievous tone to his voice. _"What if I let you go for a spin out in the desert close to base for a little bit?"_ Reese could almost see the grin in Bee's voice. He was pretty good at finding loopholes in the rules. She instantly brightened at his comment.

"Well, Optimus never said we _couldn't,_ so I don't see why not." Reese smiled as Bee turned to go past the base instead of going inside. He slowed to a stop and Reese climbed into the driver's seat. "You sure you're good with this Bee?

" _You bet! Honestly, I didn't really want to go back to base just yet either. This is going to be waaay more fun!"_ Bee whirred excitedly. Who knew he could be so mischievous? With that response, Reese floored the gas pedal and sped off into the desert landscape. She laughed aloud as she completed several sharp maneuvers. She stopped by drifting sideways until they came to a halt.

"Phew, that was great!" Her heart was pounding in her chest from the rush of adrenaline. A sound that vaguely resembled laughter came from the car itself. It was obvious that Bee had enjoyed the spin just as much as she had. She sighed contentedly and laid her head against the headrest. They had stopped behind a fairly large plateau similar to the one that housed the autobot base. As Reese looked at the rock wall in front of them, she thought she saw something odd. It was a bit of a glint coming from a crack in the wall, almost as if a sun ray was bouncing off of a piece of metal. "Hey Bee, do you see that glint coming from that crack in the wall just ahead of us?"

" _Not really, I think all that adrenaline, as you humans call it, is getting to your organic processor."_ Bee whirred humorously.

"Well I see something; give me a sec, I'm gonna go investigate." Before Bumblebee could protest, Reese had gotten out of the car and was walking up to the rock wall. To her surprise there was a metal console hidden behind some rocks. "Hey Bee, could you lend me a hand and move this big rock? The one beside the crack?"

Bee transformed and crouched down next to Reese. He gently removed the rock that she was pointing at, revealing the console interface. He let out what sounded like a low whistle as Reese examined it closely.

 _"_ _What do you think it is?_ " Bee whirred curiously.

"I don't know but I plan on finding out." Reese pressed some of the buttons on the console's interface. The screen flickered to life, emitting a bluish-green colour. The screen continued to flicker consistently, but the option for inputting a password showed up, nonetheless. "Hmm, I wonder what the pass-code could be," she thought aloud. She tampered with the console for a few minutes, trying to figure out what the password was, but it was no use.

After a few more minutes of trying to guess the password, the screen fritzed out and sparked a few times before turning black.

"Well, scrap." Reese muttered frustratedly. "I think the thing just died. It looks pretty old and it doesn't seem to have been well kept. I just wanted to know what it did."

" _Maybe you shouldn't be messing with private property, Reese. As fascinating as it is, we don't know who it belongs to."_

"Oh, come on Bee, aren't you just the least bit curious?"

 _"_ _I mean, I am, but it doesn't matter anyways, since it seems to have died."_ Bee whirred as he leaned against the rock wall. To his, and Reese's surprise, the wall gave way and receded backwards, revealing a hidden door.

"Whoa, cool!" Reese ran forward to open the door, but Bee put out his servo to block her.

"What's up with you Bee?" She looked a little annoyed that he would stop her like that.

"You don't know what's in there. There is probably a reason it was sealed away. You shouldn't go getting into things that don't pertain to you… Besides, what if there was something dangerous in there, huh? You could get hurt, and I'm supposed to be protecting you."  
"C'mon Bee, this place has clearly been abandoned for a long time. Besides, if there was something dangerous in there, I have you to protect me." She pushed past his servo and pulled down on the lever of the large metal door. Its rusty hinges creaked as it slowly swung open, and with that creak came an audible moan of frustration from Bee. "Relax Bee, I'm sure there is nothing to worry about." Reese smiled reassuringly up at the scout before walking inside.

The room was dark, and the air was thick with dust, triggering Reese to have a coughing fit. Once the fit had passed, she looked up and surveyed her surroundings, or, at least she tried to. The room was so dark that she couldn't see anything clearly. "Hey Bee, you mind providing a little light?" In response Bumblebee illuminated the headlights on his chassis. The light showed that the room was full of old tech equipment, and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. "What is this place?" Reese said aloud, more to herself than to Bumblebee. The bot just looked down at her and shrugged his shoulder plating. "Well, give me a boost and I will see if I can bring some of these computer mainframes back online." Reese pointed to one of the main computer consoles.

Bumblebee gently picked her up and set her down on the platform where the console was located. Reese immediately went to work trying to boot up the computers. To her excitement, the computer turned on right away, emitting the same bluish-green light that the console outside had.

"You know, this computer looks a heck of a lot like the computer mainframe back at base. I wonder if this place is like a little outpost or something that was connected to the original base."

" _Maybe, I don't know_ …" Bumblebee seemed a little antsy, like he was already ready to go.

"I wonder if it uses the same password as the mainframe back at base," Reese wondered aloud, typing the passcode into the system.

" _How would you know the passcode to the mainframe back at base_?" Bumblebee queried suspiciously.

"Oh, you know… I might have seen Ratchet put it in a few times," Reese mentioned in the most nonchalant voice she could muster. Sure, it probably wasn't the best thing to do, but hey, when there was nothing else to do around the base, watching Ratchet work had become one of her most frequented pass-times.

"YES! It Worked!" Reese exclaimed as the passcode was accepted and the mainframe came online. "Now, let's see what's in here."

" _Reese, maybe we should go. We probably shouldn't be here. This is probably some kind of government secret_."

"Oh please, Bumblebee, You're a government secret! I seriously doubt that me poking around some old abandoned outpost is going to get me in much trouble."

" _I don't know, Reese_ …" Bumblebee warned.

"Bee, its fine, it will be our little secret. Nobody has to even know we found it. It's clearly been long forgotten, so why bring people's attention to it now?"

Bumblebee decided not to argue any further with the girl. It was clear that she was much too curious to be reasoned with at the moment.

Reese began looking through the different files that appeared, but it looked like most everything had been erased. "Scrap, I was hoping there would be something useful in here." Reese banged her fist on the console in frustration. In doing so, she pressed a key that brought up a file that had been in the process of deletion when the console was shut down. "Hello, what do we have here," Reese fiddled around with the file and was finally able to restore most of the data. She was so completely absorbed in what she was doing that she didn't notice Bumblebee walk over and tap the platform beside her.

"Gah! Bumblebee! Don't scare me like that!"

" _Reese, we need to get back to base. I have a bad feeling that Optimus is going to be looking for us, or at least wondering where we are, and I can't get a signal in here._ " Reese could hear the concern in his artificial voice.

"Fine, fine, we can leave, but I want to come back again sometimes soon…" Reese reluctantly signed out of the mainframe and shut it down, following Bumblebee back outside into the dry desert heat.

* * *

The two pulled back into base as quietly as possible, hoping not to attract much attention. To their disappointment, however, Optimus was standing in the main room of the base, waiting for them.

Bumblebee transformed, setting Reese down on the ground. She followed him to the Prime, cowering behind his pede. " _Let me handle this_ ," he whispered to her.

"Where have you two been? We have been trying to contact you, but you were out of communication range. We were beginning to worry," Optimus asked his scout sternly.

" _We… decided to take a little detour. Reese wasn't quite ready to head back to base, so we decided to go for a little drive, so she could enjoy the fresh air_ ," Bumblebee explained innocently.

"Then why were you out of communication range?" Optimus raised an optic ridge, but fully believing what his scout was telling him.

Reese decided to run forward now, she didn't want Bumblebee to end up spilling the beans on their new little secret.

"We found an interesting looking cave and went to explore it. Turns out, the rocks or something must have blocked communication signals. I'm sorry for making you worry…" Reese hung her head a little bit, for not telling the whole truth. It stung a little since Reese knew that she had no reason to lie to Optimus, but she wasn't ready to divulge this secret just yet. She would tell them in due time, after she had figured out what was there.

Optimus looked down at her sternly for a few moments, but then his features softened. He knelt and addressed her in a comforting tone. "Thank you for your honesty, Reese. We are just glad that you are safe. Please be sure to inform us of your plans beforehand, in the future, so that we know not to worry, okay?"  
Reese nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt at his comment on honesty. Yes, what she had said was technically the truth, but it was not the whole truth. How could she test his trust like this? She looked up at Bumblebee with a weak smile, and she could see thanks in his optics.

" _Thanks for saving my bacon back there… Optimus is pretty strict when it comes to protocol. Still, we should tell them about the hidden outpost,"_ Bumblebee whirred softly so that nobody else could hear.

"We will, I promise. Just… not yet. I want to find out what was in that file that I was able to salvage. Then, we can tell the others about it. Okay?"

 _"_ _Reese, they were probably deleting those files for a reason. I still think we should just forget we ever found it."_

Reese pouted up at the bot, clearly disappointed. "If it was so important, wouldn't they have made sure it was completely deleted before shutting down the computer? I'm sure its fine…"

 _"_ _Well, if you get into trouble for this, you can't tell me I didn't tell you so."_

"It will be fine, I promise."

 _"_ _Fine…"_ Bumblebee agreed reluctantly, rolling his optics. This was going to come back to bite him in the aft at some point. He just knew it.

* * *

 **Yay, chapter 4 has officially been rewritten! Now to get onto chapter 5!** **Please review and let me know what you think of the story. That is a HUGE motivator for me to keep up my writing. Thanks again for reading, and as always, Have a lovely and blessed day!**


	5. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**So there wasn't too much to change between this chapter and the older version. I just cleaned up the writing a little bit, and added in one or two extra scenes to make it a little more interesting. I almost posted this bad boy without proofreading, and DANG that would have been a mistake. I dont recommend writing until midnight, and then deciding to update without proofreading. That is a big mistake. Dont do it!**

 **p.s. Thank you to my former roomie for helping me proofread this.  
**

* * *

 **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.**

 **Between a Rock and Hard Place**

 ** _The events of this chapter correspond to the episode "Rock Bottom"_**

"Optimus, I'm picking up a steady energon signal coming from some kind of cave or mine. Considering that our energon reserves are running low, this could be just the break we need." Ratchet turned from his console to the autobot leader, expectantly. "We don't know when another chance like this will arise."

"You are right, old friend, the signal needs to be investigated, considering all of our other scouting missions have come up empty handed. Arcee and Bulkhead, you two go and investigate the energon signal. Bumblebee, you will wait here in case they need backup. Ratchet, please continue searching for other possible energon deposits." Optimus gave out orders for each member of the team.

Miko ran up to Bulkhead's pede excitedly. "Yo Bulk, What about our Slash Monkey concert? We have been waiting all year for this!" The young Japanese girl looked up into Bulkhead's optics with puppy dog eyes.

"I know Miko, but some things take priority over leisure activities." Bulkhead looked down at his charge with sad optics; he was disappointed too.

"Well what if I went with you? We could go, scout out the energon, and then go straight to the concert!" Miko jumped up and down excitedly at her new idea.

"Oh, I don't know Miko, it could get dangerous. You should probably just stay here."

"Aww, c'mon Bulk, with you there to protect me what could possibly go wrong?"

"Ha! Those are some of the most famous last words in history, Miko." Reese chuckled as she walked up beside the girl. "But, I do think it would be cool to go investigating with you guys." Reese gave Bulkhead a look that was almost as pleading as Miko's. It was a Saturday, so she didn't have work, and this seemed like it would be waaay more exciting than hanging around the base all day.

"Bulkhead, I'm sure it will be fine. It will only be reconnaissance anyways. Besides, Reese is considered an adult on this planet; she can watch Miko and make sure that she doesn't get into any trouble, and I can bring Jack too, just for good measure." Arcee walked up with her energon tracker in hand.

"Well…. If you think so, I guess it can't hurt." He turned from Arcee to Miko and said with a stern warning, "But you will stay outside. Got it?"

"Aww man, what's the fun in that?" Miko complained, but when she saw Bulkhead raise an optic ridge at her with a stern look on his face, she complied. The two bots, their charges, and Reese stepped through the ground bridge and into the area close to where the energon signal was coming from.

"Now, you three stay out here. We will be back in a bit," Arcee looked down at the three humans. "And don't get into any trouble." With that she and Bulkhead walked towards the mouth of the cave.

Miko ran over to a bunch of big rocks by the entrance of the cave and plopped herself down on one of them. Jack and Reese did the same.

"So, Reese, aren't your parents getting suspicious of the amount of time you spend away from home? I mean your practically living at the base now." Jack tried to make small talk to pass the time.

"Um, well, the fact is, my parents aren't really alive anymore." Reese shifted uncomfortably at the topic. "Besides, I'm technically an adult now… I would probably be off in college somewhere if I had the money."

"Oh… I… I'm sorry. I didn't know." Jack kicked himself for bringing up the topic. He should have known better.  
"Way to go Jack, now you just had to go and make things awkward didn't you." Miko poked Jack with a stick she found.

"Hey, hey, its fine; there was no way he could have known. I didn't tell anybody about my parents. He was just making a logical observation. Please don't feel bad Jack; it was a long time ago." Reese tried to reassure Jack.

"Speaking of a long time, what is taking Arcee and Bulkhead so long? We're supposed to be at a rock concert, but all I see is… rock." Miko pouted in annoyance.

"Relax Miko, the show doesn't start for another two hours." Jack replied with a humorous tone to his voice. This only annoyed Miko even more.

"Do you know how long I have waited to see Slash Monkey? Huh? Do you? FOREVER!" She yelled in Jack's face. "Besides, this is their only U.S. date! I won't get another chance like this!"

Jack seemed to be taking Miko's little freak-out session in stride, commenting about the fact that Bulgarian shriek metal isn't big in the U.S.

Just then Bulkhead and Arcee came out of the cave entrance, interrupting Miko's little temper tantrum. They seemed to be discussing what they had found in the cave, or rather, what they hadn't found.

"The mine appears to be completely stripped," Arcee stated.

"Yea, but I'm still getting a faint but steady energon signal," Bulkhead looked down at his energon tracker with a confused look on his facial plating.

"This makes no sense. This mine appears to have been abandoned for what, four or five years now, and decepticons never leave energon behind." Arcee spoke her thoughts aloud.

While they were talking, Miko took her chance to sneak away from the group and go running into the cave.

Jack and Reese looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Leave it to Miko to make everything complicated.

"Hey guys, I think Miko's making a run for it," Jack pointed to the girl's quickly retreating form.

"I can't believe it. She actually did it," Arcee said with utter disbelief.

"Well, I mean, its Miko… What did you expect?" Jack responded, clearly not surprised by Miko's behavior.

"Well, we should probably go in and get her before she gets herself lost," Reese sighed before she took off running into the cave as well. Followed by the others. "Miko! Get your Kawaii little butt back here or so help me!" She called after the Japanese girl, who was already deep within the cave.

Bulkhead and Reese came into the main cavern in the mine to find Miko testing out the acoustics. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself, running around yelling just to hear her voice echo throughout the chamber.

"Miko, give it a rest, would you? If there _were_ any decepticons in here, they would know we were here now!" Reese remarked at the rebellious girl. "Don't you know anything about stealth? Sheesh."

Bulkhead decided to stay out of the debate between the two girls. He was much more interested in the fact that his energon tracker was now getting a stronger signal. He walked up to one of the walls, where the signal was the strongest, and began examining it.

"Hey, Cee, I think I found something," He attempted to inform Arcee about his discovery, but all he was met with was static. "Scrap, the mineral composition down here must be jamming the signal. Welp, I guess I will just go ahead and collect a sample for Ratchet, now," He voiced his thoughts aloud as he transformed his fist into a giant wrecking ball and began whacking away at the stone wall.

Not even a minute after Bulkhead began whacking away at the wall, all three of them heard the earth shudder as stones around them began falling.

Miko and Reese gave out a shriek of terror as a giant rock almost landed right on top of them. They both dove out of the way, just in time, and scurried over to Bulkhead. He bent down over them, shielding them with his massive frame.

There were several minutes of loud crashes and banging until finally everything seemed to quiet down.

Both girls looked up at Bulkhead, who was now standing, arms outstretched, keeping a massive chunk of the ceiling from falling and squishing them all. It looked like an uncomfortable position to be in.

"Did I do that?" Bulkhead looked down at the girls worriedly.

"I… I don't know. I don't think so… I mean, you weren't hitting that wall hard enough to cause the whole room to collapse." Reese said as she shakily stood to her feet, helping Miko up as well.

"Are you two okay? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"We're intact," Miko gave Bulkhead a thumbs up. "Though, I can't say the same for the rest of this room."

Miko was right. The room was littered with rocks and dust, and the exit was completely blocked by debris.

"Were trapped in here. Do you think you will be okay holding up that big hunk of rock, Bulkhead?" Reese asked the green wrecker with concern.

"I will be fine. I just hope Jack and Arcee are okay, because we could sure use an assist. Can you see any holes that might be big enough for one or both of you to climb through?"

"No… from what I can tell, we are sealed in here tight," Reese sighed defeatedly.

"Don't worry guys, I'll get us out of here," Miko jumped up and ran over to the rockslide that blocked the exit. She hastily began picking up rocks and throwing them to the side, hoping to create an opening of some kind. Unfortunately, every time she moved a rock, another fell in to take its place.

Reese came over to help her, hoping that maybe their combined effort would be able to make a dent in the rockslide, but it didn't matter. There was just too much debris to get through.

"This is useless," Reese sat down next to Bulkhead. She was tired, dusty, and was finding it difficult to breathe for some reason. Miko flopped down next to her, panting as well.

"You need to conserve your energy. There isn't a lot of air down here, and when you are working hard, you need more oxygen." Bulkhead looked down at the two girls worriedly.

"You mean we're gonna suffocate!?" Miko cried out in horror.

"Not all of us, Miko, just you and Reese. Autobots don't need to breathe. Remember?"

"Oh yea, I forgot, you had a smack down with the decepticons in outer space." She gasped again as she crawled back towards the rocks. "Maybe if we just move slower, and breathe less." She struggled to lift another rock but ended up falling backwards.

"It's no use Miko, there has to be another way," Reese said as she propped herself up against Bulkhead's pede. She didn't want to die, not like this, but the lack of oxygen was making it harder and harder to think clearly, meaning that no new ideas were coming to her head.

"Okay you two, new plan. I want you to hit me with rocks. Try to make as much noise as possible. Maybe the sound will guide Jack and Arcee to us," Bulkhead suggested.

"But Bulk, I don't wanna hurt you," Miko looked up at her guardian with tearful eyes and a quivering lip.

"You aren't going to hurt me. I promise. Just make as much noise as you can."

"Are you sure?" Reese looked questioningly up at the bot, though she already knew the answer. She was just as hesitant to hit him, considering that he was already under a lot of pressure with holding up the ceiling.

"Just do it," Bulkhead ordered. It was no longer a request. The two girls picked up nearby rocks and walked over to the giant robot, bringing them down heavily on Bulk's pedes.

Amid the clangs of rock against metal, they thought they could hear the faint sound of drilling. Both girls stopped and perked up, listening carefully to make sure they weren't just hearing things. Sure enough, the sound of drilling echoed down to them from somewhere outside their stone prison.

"Keep hitting me! We need to guide that drilling closer to us!" Bulkhead said frantically, grunting loudly as a hissing sound escaped from his arms.

"What was that?" Miko and Reese looked up at him worriedly, panicking at the evident strain that was on the robot's face.

"You need to hurry, I don't know how much longer my arms are going to hold out."

"Does it hurt?" Miko looked like she was about to cry, seeing the situation her guardian was stuck in.

"A little, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that you two keep hitting me with those rocks. Our only hope of getting out of here is to lead Arcee and Jack to us."

"Bulkhead's right, Miko. The sooner Arcee and Jack find us, the sooner we can get out of here," Reese tried to urge the other girl on.

Sweating and panting, both girls went back to hitting Bulkhead with the rocks, hoping that the clanging noises would reach the person with the drill. They were about to give up hope, when they noticed that the drilling noise was getting closer.

"I think its working!" Miko gasped as she made a particularly loud clang against Bulkhead's pede.

"I think you're right," Reese stopped for a moment to try to catch her breath. Air was running out pretty quickly for them.

Sure enough, the drill was headed towards them, and within a few minutes, they could hear it drilling away at the other side of the rockslide.

"WERE SAVED!" Miko called out happily as the tip of the drill broke through the wall of rubble. She jumped up, ready to hug whoever was on the other side, but quickly changed her mind when she saw who was actually behind the drill.

Both she and Reese huddled against each other as they saw a silver robot hop off the drill and look at them in confusion.

"Well this is quite the surprise?" He chuckled in a gravelly voice, one that sent chills down Reese's spine. She recognized that voice.

"A surprise indeed, Starscream," Bulkhead snapped back. This was not the rescue party he had hoped for.

"I wasn't expecting to find you down here, and look, you have your pet vermin with you," Starscream sneered as he caught a glimpse of Miko and Reese.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the human that won me the polarity gauntlet!" Starscream recognized Reese almost as instantly as she had recognized him. He tried to reach down to grab one of the girls, but Bulkhead kicked at him, causing him to reel back a little.

"Don't you lay a digit on them, Starscream," Bulkhead growled angrily.

"Or what? You will glare me to death? Please autobot, you clearly have your servos full. I don't have any reason to be afraid of you."

"Reese, Miko, stay behind me," Bulkhead ordered the girls, who were happy to oblige.

"Reese was it? Is that your name? what a pathetic name for a pathetic human being. Though, I suppose I should be thanking you, since it was all because of you that I got the polarity gauntlet."

"Starscream, leave her alone!" Bulkhead warned threateningly. While there was little he could do to actually stop Starscream, he was at least going to do his best to intimidate the decepticon.

"What am I doing? I'm just having a conversation with your little friend. What's so wrong with that?" Starscream feigned an innocent smile before lunging forward and catching Reese by the back of the shirt, before either she or Bulkhead could react.

Reese yelped as she felt herself get pulled backwards, the ground rapidly getting further away as she was lifted into the air.

"Put me down!" She screamed as she thrashed around, trying to get loose from Starscream's hold.

"Pathetic, that is what you are," Starscream chuckled as he dangled her in front of his face. "You know, I bet Megatron would be proud of me if I brought you back to the warship. How does living on the Nemesis sound to you, Reese?"

Reese blanched at Starscream's words. Surely he was kidding, right? Bulkhead wouldn't let Starscream take her.

"Starscream, so help me, if you don't put her down, I will hurt you so bad…" Bulkhead tried to threaten the silver seeker, but his threats were meaningless given his current predicament.

Reese feared that this would be it. That she would become a decepticon prisoner and that they would never get free, but then the sound of drilling again reached her ears. She tried to look past Starscream to hear where the drilling was coming from, when another one of the mining drills rammed right into Starscream's back, causing him to shriek and drop Reese. She fell to the floor, spraining her ankle as she hit the ground. Despite the searing pain, she crawled back over to Bulkhead's pede, making sure to keep her distance from Starscream.

Jack peered out from the side of the mining drill and surveyed the situation. He saw Bulkhead struggling to hold up the ceiling, Miko hugging Bulkhead's pede in fear, and Reese propped up against his other pede, holding her ankle.

"Quick, Jack, get them out of here!" Bulkhead yelled to Jack.

"But Bulk, I don't want to leave you!" Miko argued with her guardian, reluctant to leave him behind with Starscream.

"Miko, now is not the time to argue. You and Reese need to get out of here, NOW!"

Miko's eyes teared up as she reluctantly climbed onto the drill that Jack had driven into their little cavern. Jack jumped down and helped Reese limp over to the drill as well, before starting it back up and driving out of the cavern, leaving Bulkhead and Starscream to figure things out on their own.

"Jack, what about Bulkhead? Who is going to protect him from Starscream now that we're no longer there?" asked Miko in a watery voice.

"Right now, we just need to get out of here before Megatron gets free too."

"Wait, Megatron is here!?" Miko looked even more horrified to hear that the decepticon warlord was also in the cave with them. Jack didn't heed her as he maneuvered the drill towards the exit. Just ahead of them in the darkness they heard heavy footsteps. All three of the teens gasped, immediately fearing the worst, but as soon as the mysterious figure came within the light of the mining drill, they realized that it was Arcee.

"Jack, get Miko and Reese to the exit; it's just behind me!" Arcee ordered.

"Will do! Bulkhead is not too far behind us… and he could use a little help," Jack heeded her command, maneuvering the drill to go around her.

"Got it. I will get Bulkhead and meet you three back outside," Arcee assured as she ran off into the darkness behind them.

A few minutes later, Jack, Miko, and Reese were able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Jack drove the drill forward, breaking through what was left of the rubble that blocked the entrance to the cave, and then, they were back in the fresh outdoors.

Fresh air had never smelled so good. All three teens breathed it in deeply. They had been trapped in that stuffy cave for far too long. Looking at the sky, the sun was already beginning to set.

"Dangit, guess it looks like I'm not going to make it to my Slash Monkey concert after all…" Miko pouted as she sat down and pulled her knees to her chest.

"Well, you know, you probably would have been able to make it if you hadn't decided to go running into the cave like that," Jack retorted angrily.

"Don't lecture me, Jack!" Miko snapped back.

Sensing an argument brewing, Reese decided to change the subject. "So, what happened exactly?"

"Well, we kinda got separated from you guys while exploring the cave. Arcee and I stumbled upon an open room where it looked like Megatron was about to offline Starscream. Unfortunately, Megatron saw us and decided to shoot at us instead of his second-in-command, and his ion blasts are what caused the cave in," Jack explained, thankful for a change in topic.

"That makes sense…"

"What about you? Is your ankle okay?"

"Yea, I think I only sprained it. I'm more freaked out by that Starscream con… He is the same one who almost killed me back when my truck got pulled into the fight between the bots and the cons," Reese shuddered at the thought, gingerly fingering the scar on her face that was a constant reminder to that fateful night.

"Yea, Starscream's a jerk… I'm sorry about that," Jack looked down awkwardly, not really sure how to comfort Reese.

Their conversation was interrupted, by Bulkhead and Arcee climbing out of the cave.

"Bulkhead!" Miko ran towards her guardian, joyful tears streaming down her face. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am! With Cee's help, it wasn't that hard of a situation to get out of."

"I'm so glad everyone is alright!" Miko bounced up and down happily, seeming to have completely forgotten her frustration at missing the Slash Monkey concert.

Arcee was in a more somber mood, however, as she stared off at the cave entrance. "You know… We could finish them both, here and now."

Jack walked up to her and put his hand against her pede. "Would Optimus finish them?"

Arcee sighed and shook her head, "No, not like this… Let's just go home."

"Hey Ratchet, we are ready for a ground bridge," Bulkhead held his digit to the side of his helm and commed the base. In response, a swirling green portal opened up in front of the group.

"you good to walk?" Jack offered Reese a hand, which she gladly took, allowing him to help her carry her weight.

"Thanks Jack, for all your help today. We probably would have been toast if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"Hey, we gotta look out for each other. That's what friend's are for."

"yea… You all have been great friends to me," Reese smiled. As much as she hated to admit it, she had gotten quite attached to her new friends at the base. It would be hard to leave them all behind and go back to her old life like she had originally planned to do."

* * *

 **WOOT WOOT! I'm so happy to get this out so quickly! so YAY! Happy DAY!** **Please review and let me know what you think of the story. That is a HUGE motivator for me to keep up my writing. Thanks again for reading, and as always, Have a lovely and blessed day!**


	6. Experimentation

**Heyyyyy I'm back with another updated chapter! You're welcome! While i was rewriting this chapter, I realized just how cringy the original one was. I have to say that I have definitely gotten better at showing and not telling, as the old version of this chapter was pretty much just told. Hopefully you guys like the new and improved writing :D**

 ***By the way, if you are wondering what happened to all chapter that used to be here, refer back to chapter 1 where I answer those questions in the author's notes.**

* * *

 **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.**

 **Experimentation**

Almost a full week had passed since the incident at the energon mine, and Reese was getting restless again. Optimus was not too pleased to hear that the kids had run into the decepticons, and Megatron and Starscream, no less. Reese had been on strict orders to only leave the base to go to work, which annoyed her to no end.

Work was nice and all. It kept her mind busy during the day, but when it was done, she just came back to the base and was bored again. She couldn't even get out to go exploring in that old abandoned outpost she had found with Bumblebee.

With a sigh she plopped down on the sofa and pulled out the controller to the racing game that Raf had left at the base. She had gotten pretty good at it, having had nothing else to do.

While she played, she formulated a conversation between herself and Optimus in her head. She planned out everything she would say to him. Her plan was to hopefully convince him to let her finally go back home. Sure, her house wouldn't be as safe as the base, but she would much rather prefer to be there.

As fate would have it, about as soon as she finished her game, Optimus came into the main room of the base, walking over to the computer mainframe and pulling up one of the data logs. It was now or never.

Reese pulled herself to her feet and walked over to the Prime, trying to be as unassuming as possible. She wanted it to seem more like a pleasant conversation than a plea for freedom.

"Hey Optimus, you got a minute to talk?" Reese asked nonchalantly.

"Reese, it is funny you should ask, as I also had something that I wanted to speak with you about," Optimus looked up from the computer, giving Reese his full and undivided attention.

"Oh… uh… you can go first," Reese stammered. She hadn't been expecting him to also want to talk with her about something. What if it ruined her plans? She was just supposed to convince him to let her go home. The conversation was supposed to be one sided. Already, things weren't going according to plan.

"Are you sure? You came up to me first."

"No, no, I'm sure it's not as important. Please, go ahead," Reese assured him, internally kicking herself. She should have just taken the opportunity.

"It's about your living arrangement," Optimus began, already piquing Reese's interest.

"Oh?"

"Well, I have been giving it some thought, and I have seen how difficult it has been for you to live here at base, and so I have decided to allow you to return back to your home."

Reese merely stared at Optimus in awe. Had those words actually just come from his mouth? Did he really say she could go home? "Really!?"

"Seeing as the decepticons do not know of your home's location, I suppose it is only fair for you to be able to return home. I realize that I was being unfair to you by forcing you to stay here. Please understand, I meant it purely for your safety and well-being, but I see now that perhaps it was not the wisest of decisions."

"Oh Optimus! Thank you!" Reese was practically bouncing with excitement. Finally, she could go home, get back to her normal life, and move on. Behind all of that excitement, though, was still a little sting, deep down. Reese was going to miss living with the bots, even if it was only a little bit.

"Tomorrow, after your shift, Bulkhead will take you back to your place. He will stay the night and keep watch over the house, just for that night. Unfortunately, we do not have a bot to spare to keep watch over your home every night, but if you ever have a problem, you can always call us here at the base, now that you are connected to our secure frequency."

"This is wonderful! Thank you so much! You have all been so kind and thoughtful," Reese beamed happily. "I should probably go and make sure my stuff is packed," She thought aloud as she darted down the stairs to the spare storage compartment that had temporarily been turned into her room.

She threw her suitcase onto the bed and began packing her most essential items into it. She had her laptop, her clothes, a couple pairs of shoes, and all her other items that she might need. The rest of her stuff would probably be brought back over later.

By the time she had finished packing, it was about time for her to be getting ready for bed. Oh, how she wished it was already the next day. Sleep was something that was not going to come easily for her that night.

Despite her extreme excitement, the day seemed to go by in a blur, and the next thing Reese knew, it was time for her to head in for her evening shift.

She came bouncing out of her room, pulling her rolling suitcase behind her and placing it in the backseat of Bulkhead's vehicle form, before climbing in herself.

"You seem awfully excited to leave us," Bulkhead joked, though it hit a bit of a soft spot in Reese's heart.

"Oh, you know I'm not leaving you guys. I will still see you often. I will just be staying at my own house instead of staying at the base, that's all," Reese rationalized the situation, more for herself than for Bulk.

"I know, I'm just teasing you," Bulkhead chuckled, seemingly unaware of how his little joke had actually affected Reese.

"Heh, I knew that," Reese chuckled and tried to play off her uneasiness at leaving the bots, even if it was only for a little bit at a time.

The two rode in silence until Bulkhead pulled up to the front of Reese's workplace. He opened the passenger door and let Reese hop out.

"I will be here to pick you up when you get off. Have a good shift," He called out to her before closing the passenger door and pulling out of the parking lot.

"Thanks Bulk," Reese smiled, albeit a little sadly, before she opened the doors to her job and went in.

Reese's shift lasted until 10:00 p.m. and when she finally walked out of the small tech support office, it was dark. As promised, Bulkhead was waiting out in the parking lot for her when she walked out of the store. She climbed into his vehicle form and yawned.

"How'd your shift go?"

"Not too bad. It felt like it was never going to end though." Reese yawned again.

"Well, let's get you home so you can get some rest," Bulkhead said as he started up his engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

He couldn't help but notice that there was still another car in the lot that started up about the same time he did. Something about the car was familiar, though he couldn't quite place from where. He kept an optic on it through the rearview as he drove down the road, not ready to worry Reese about it just yet.

Bulkhead drove for a while, keeping a constant optic on the car behind them. By now, Reese had closed her eyes and was dozing in the passenger seat. He didn't want to scare her, but he was starting to get concerned about the car behind them. Perhaps, they were just going in the same direction, but something about the car put Bulkhead on edge, and he didn't like it.

"Reese, we are gonna take a quick detour, okay?" Bulkhead warned before he pulled sharply off the main road and onto a little dirt road that led off into the desert. His tanks dropped as the other car swerved to keep behind him, speeding up and closing the distance between them.

"Bulkhead, what's going on?" Reese asked worriedly, trying to turn around in her seat to get a look at the car behind them. The headlights on the car were extremely bright, effectively blinding Reese when she tried to get a good look at the car. It was almost like dejavu to the night when she had first met the autobots.

"I'm not sure, kid. Something about that car seems very familiar; I just can't place from where, and I don't like it. They have been following us since we left your job, and it's high time we lost them," Bulk's voice was strained with tension as he began making evasive maneuvers. After several sharp turns and multiple fake outs, Bulk was finally able to lose their pursuer.

Reese let out a sigh of relief when the mysterious car was no longer tailing them. This was too creepy. "Do you think we lost them for good?"

"I think so, but we are going to take a long and roundabout way to get you home. It will take a little longer, but I would rather be safe than sorry," Bulkhead replied as he pulled back out onto the road.

"That's fine, I don't mind. I would rather be safe too." Reese held her hand over her heart, trying to get it to calm down. Despite the fact that there was nobody around anymore, the hairs on the back of her neck were still bristling.

After an extra thirty minutes of driving, Bulkhead finally pulled up to the gravel driveway of Reese's house. She hopped out and opened the side door to get her suitcase out of the back seat.

"Thanks for the ride, Bulk," She smiled as she turned to walk to her house, but something stopped her. She wasn't sure what to call it, other than an extreme sense of uneasiness and dread. "Hey Bulk, something's not ri-"she was cut off by bright high beams illuminating her and the front of her house.

Before Reese could even process what was happening, Bulk had transformed beside her and was picking her up, cupping her in his servos.

"Bulkhead! What's going on!?" Reese screamed.

"I knew that car looked familiar," Bulkhead's voice was almost a growl. "It belonged to MECH." He defensively held her against his chassis.

"Who's MECH!?" Reese's muffled cry came from Bulkhead's servos.

"There is no time to explain; we need to get you out of here." He was just about to transform when a stream of electricity shot out and hit his flank. The huge bot dropped to his knees, still clutching Reese to his chassis.

"Bulk! What's happening? Talk to me!" Reese had felt his whole frame shudder as electricity had flowed through him. The voice that answered her was not Bulkhead's.

"Drop the girl, Autobot, and maybe we won't dissect you down to your fiber optics," The voice was clear, strong, and full of malice.

"It's no use, Silas, I have already sent out a distress signal. The others will be here any minute. You would do well to retreat before you get squashed like a bug," Bulkhead responded to the man's threat.

"Then you leave me no choice," The evil voice said, and Reese felt Bulkhead's frame shudder again as he was hit with several more beams of electricity. Bulkhead groaned in pain but still he held Reese protectively against him.

"Bulkhead!" Reese cried out, hugging his shuddering frame. Eventually, his digits began to uncurl from around the girl as his servo fell to the ground and went limp. "No! Bulkhead!" she screamed as his optics slowly flickered out. "Bulkhead!" she reached for him as strong hands seized each of her arms.

She struggled against the hands that pulled her back, but it was no use. They were too strong. Their vice like grip bit into her skin as they yanked her further away from her only hope of being saved.

She was forced into a car, stuck between two very large men wearing masks. It was too dark to see anything else clearly, though it didn't matter as one of the men tied a blindfold over her eyes.

"Fight and you will regret it, kid," one of the men said as she felt the muzzle of a gun placed against her temple. Given everything that had just transpired, Reese was in too much shock to even think about fighting back.

* * *

"Bulkhead, wake up." Ratchet was standing over the giant green bot. Optimus and Arcee were standing behind him. Slowly, Bulkhead's optics flickered back to life and he looked up at his three autobot friends. He groaned and grabbed his helm as he tried to sit up. Suddenly, his optics snapped into focus as he remembered what had just happened.

"Where's Reese?" He looked around frantically, ignoring Ratchet's attempts to make him hold still. "They took her; it's all my fault". He groaned and held his servos to his head.

"Take it easy Bulkhead, who took her?" Optimus asked, resting a servo on the panicked bot's shoulder plating.  
"MECH. They attacked me, demanding for me to give them Reese."

"What would MECH want with Reese?" Ratchet

"I… I don't know. I couldn't protect her. There were so many of them, and they had some new kind of weapon. Just took a couple of hits and I was out." The green bot slammed his clenched servo into the ground. "I should have just taken her back to base."

"Bulkhead, there is no use worrying about what could have been done. Right now, we need to find out what we can do to get Reese back." Arcee said softly as she placed a comforting servo on Bulkhead's other shoulder plating.

"Arcee is correct. We must try to find where MECH is holding Reese, and why they wanted her to begin with." Optimus straightened up and comm'd for a bridge back to base. "Arcee, you and I will follow the tracks as far as we can, see if they lead anywhere. Ratchet, you head back and see if you can try to trace anything from the computers back at base." With a nod Ratchet headed through the ground bridge with Bulkhead, while Optimus and Arcee began following the tracks left behind by MECH's cars on the dirt road.

* * *

The drive to MECH's base only took about forty-five minutes, but to Reese, it felt like a lifetime. She was stuck between two mysterious men, one of whom had a gun against her head, and they were taking her to some unknown location. How were the autobots going to find her now?

She couldn't see where they were going, but she could hear mechanical doors open and close as they drove into what she could only assume was the MECH base. The car pulled to a stop and Reese found herself being dragged from the car and the blindfold pulled off her head.

"Welcome Reese," a man with a scarred face and a military haircut greeted her. She recognized his voice. He was the one who had demanded that Bulkhead give her up.

"Should I know you?" Reese growled angrily, still being held back by the two masked men who had captured her.

"He always was one for secrets… So, I suppose it would make sense for you not to know me. I am Silas, but more importantly, we are MECH."

"Who are you talking about? Who kept secrets!?" Reese racked her brain, trying to find out who this Silas person was speaking of, but nobody was coming to mind.

"That is of no importance now. What _is_ important, is the fact that you are here."

"What do you want with me? I am just a normal girl. There is nothing special about me."

"Oh, but you _are_ special. You have a rare and unique genetic mutation that we think will lend to you being very useful in our little experiment."

"What kind of experiment," Reese's eyes widened at the man's words.

"Ah, you will find out in due time. Men, show our guest to the lab," Silas smirked and walked away.

"No, let me go!" Reese yelled as she was dragged down one of the many halls in the MECH base. "Please! Don't do this!"

"Shut up," one of the men whacked her on the back of the head, causing the room to spin a little.

The men brought Reese into what she assumed to be the lab. It was full of terrifying looking equipment, as well as what looked like a miniature version of the medical berths that the autobots had back at their own base.

Reese was dragged over to this medical berth and metal restraints were clasped over her ankles and wrists.

 _"_ _This is bad, this is really bad,"_ Reese thought frantically as she struggled against the restraints. How did this Silas guy know who she was? What genetic mutation was he talking about? If she didn't even know she had one, then how did he know? She needed to get away, but currently, she wasn't in any place to do so.

As she continued to try and free herself from the restraints, Silas came walking into the room, followed by several more men wearing lab coats and those mysterious masks. The scientist looking men went about preparing many of the different kinds of equipment, while Silas went up to the large computer that was at the front of the room.

He typed a few things in on the keypad and then, much to Reese's surprise, the autobots appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Optimus Prime. I'm so glad you were able to join us for this momentous occasion. You are going to witness us make history as we create our very own Cybernetic warrior."

* * *

Arcee and Optimus were able to follow Mech's trail until they came to the paved highway. There, the trail vanished without a trace.

"Scrap," Arcee muttered under her breath. Optimus only vented and called for a ground bridge back to base.

"Have you been able to find anything, Old Friend?" Optimus asked Ratchet who was standing at one of the computer monitors.

"Nothing yet," Ratchet grumbled as he tried scanning a different frequency. "I have already contacted Nurse Darby and Agent Fowler. Considering that MECH has Reese, she may be in need of medical attention when we find her, and Agent Fowler can help us when we do find MECH's hideout."

"Good thinking, Ratchet. Keep searching those frequencies; we need to find Reese as quickly as possible." Optimus vented as he reassuringly placed a servo on Ratchet's shoulder plating.

It just so happened that as soon as Optimus said that, the computer stumbled upon an open frequency and tapped in. On the screen, Silas appeared.

"Hello, Optimus Prime. I'm so glad you were able to join us for this momentous occasion. You are going to witness us make history as we create our very own Cybernetic warrior," Silas sneered as he grandly gestured to Reese, who was restrained to a medical berth in the background.

"Silas, what are your intentions for Reese?" Optimus kept a level tone.

"I just told you, we are going to make our very own cybernetic warrior, and we are going to use your friend, Reese, to do it. You see, all of our other attempts to infuse energon into humans has unfortunately ended… poorly, however, Reese here has a special genetic mutation that should allow her to be compatible with the energon."

"You don't know that. You could very well end up killing her!" Ratchet sputtered, appalled that Silas would suggest such a thing.

"Silas, if your only intention was to use Reese, then why would you contact us and risk us tracing the frequency?" Optimus pointed out a fairly obvious flaw in Silas' plan.

"I just thought that you would like to see history in the making. Not to mention, it is so much more entertaining to have a live audience. I have taken extra precautions to ensure that the call is untraceable, so sit back and enjoy the show."

About the time Silas finished his little spiel, June and Agent Fowler came running into the base. June gasped and covered her mouth when she saw the predicament that Reese was in. Agent Fowler, on the other hand, was not one for funny business and stomped right up to the screen.

"Silas, you piece of slag, you give Reese back right this second or I will get the military involved, and they wont be as lenient with you as the autobots," The special agent yelled at Silas through the screen.

"Ah, Agent Fowler, and June too, lovely of you to join the party. You are just in time to watch things all come together," Silas paid no heed to Fowler's threat. "Alright men, everyone is here. Let's begin."

At Silas' command, several of the scientists pulled over a rolling tray stocked with energon filled syringes.

"No, please, don't do this!" Reese cried as she struggled against the restraints that held her down. It was no use. "Please, I'm sure there is another way."

"Reese, relax, you should feel honored to be contributing so much to the expansion of science," Silas came and stood in front of her.

Several men held Reese down, keeping her from moving too much, as one of the scientists injected the first syringe of energon into Reese's arm.

A blood curdling scream erupted from Reese as intense fire shot through her veins. Every inch of her writhed in pain as the energon made its way through her blood stream, infecting every cell of her body. Her heart rate steadily increased, faster and faster, until it had reached a dangerously high rate.

"NO! You're killing her!" June screamed in horror, watching Reese's heart rate continue to increase."

"Sir, her heart can't take much more. She is going to go into cardiac arrest," One of the scientists informed Silas.

"Be patient, it might take a few minutes for her body to accept the energon," Silas said calmly, clearly not too concerned.

Then Reese's heart rate on the monitor went into v-fib, causing the scientists to immediately jump into action. One of them pulled out a defibrillator and prepped it.

"Hold it, give her body a few more seconds," Silas ordered his men to stand by.

"Sir, we will lose her if we don't do something now," The scientist looked at his boss with surprise, though he held back from using the defibrillator, as ordered.

To everyone but Silas' surprise, after what felt like an eternity, Reese's heart rate slowly came back into rhythm and began to decrease back to a normal rate.

"How did you know that her heart rate would come back down?" The scientist turned back to Silas in shock.

"I wasn't positive, but I had a hunch that it would take a little bit for her body to adapt," Silas replied casually.

"You were willing to take that risk, after all we did to find and capture her?"

"Yes. It was a huge risk, but it worked in the end, so that is all that matters. Now, since she is back in a stable rhythm, you can begin the cyber enhancing process." Silas seemed done with the conversation and turned from his soldiers back to the screen where the autobots were still watching.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed the show, but I think you have seen enough for now," He smiled sinisterly and cut the communication line.

* * *

Unbeknownst to MECH, the autobots had not been watching idly. Rather, after Silas had turned from them to watch the experiment, Agent Fowler had pulled up Rafael on the phone.

"Hello?" a sleepy sounding voice answered the phone.

"Rafael, I'm sorry to wake you, but this is an emergency," The tone in Fowler's voice conveyed how urgent the message was.

"What's up?" Rafael's voice sounded concerned as it came through the phone.

"Reese has been kidnapped by MECH, and we need your help tracing a frequency to find the location of their base. They have some kind of encryption code on their frequency that is keeping us from being able to trace it."

"Hold up, Reese was captured by MECH? Why would they do that?"

"The details can wait, we are on a bit of a time crunch here," Fowler massaged the bridge of his nose, trying to release the tension from the stress headache that had been building since he arrived.

"Okay, let me get my computer pulled up."

"No time, you are going to need to come here and do it from the mainframe."

"I can't leave the house! It's WAAAAY past my bedtime, and if my mom sees that I'm not here, I'm going to be grounded for a lifetime!"

"This is a matter of life or death! If it comes down to it, I will speak with your mother personally after this is all said and done. Ratchet is opening a ground bridge, so get you're little hiney over here," Fowler ordered and then hung up the phone.

A moment later, the ground bridge opened and Raf came walking through, still wearing his favorite sports car themed pajamas and holding his laptop firmly against his chest. Fowler ushered him over to the mainframe so that he could do his thing.

"Whoa! What are they doing to Reese!?" Raf's eyes widened in horror as he took in what was on the screen before him.

"Don't worry about that right now. You need to focus on getting that communication link traced."

"Okay, okay. You were right when you said it was blocked by an encryption program." Raf went to work typing away on the keypad of the mainframe computer.

"Can you get through it?" Optimus asked Raf seriously.

"Not by conventional means, no, but I might have an idea that could work," Raf opened his laptop and connected it to the main computer. He began furiously typing away, becoming completely absorbed in the lines of code that appeared across his computer screen.

"What are you doing?" Fowler peered curiously over the boy's shoulder.

"Creating a virus that should be able to corrupt the encryption program they are using. It's a long shot, but its all we have to work with right now," Raf said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Do you think it will work," Fowler asked, still hovering over Raf's shoulder.

"It might, if you stop pestering me about it!" Raf snapped impatiently, turning back to his typing.

June walked over and pulled Agent Fowler back a bit, giving Rafael some room to work.

After several tense minutes of working, Raf finally had the virus coded and sent it through the channel to corrupt the encryption program.

"Well, I have done what I can. Let's hope it was enough," Raf adjusted his glasses again.

They all turned to look at the screen, gasping as Reese's heart rate reached a dangerously fast rate.

"No! You're killing her!" June screamed at the screen, watching as Reese's heart went into V-fib.

They all watched, breath held, unable to do anything but pray and hope for the best. After a few tense moments, Reese's heart finally came back into rhythm and slowed down to a normal rate. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Silas walked back over to the screen and gave a sinister grin, "Well, I hope you enjoyed the show, but I think you have seen enough for now." With that, he terminated the communication link.

"Oh no! The link!" June gasped, looking worriedly over to Raf, who was intently watching a loading bar on his screen.

"Was it enough time?" Optimus asked, looking down at Raf expectantly.

"… YES! I got it! I got the coordinates!" Raf jumped up, beaming widely.

"You did it!" Fowler scooped Raf up in a bear hug and swung him around excitedly, before setting the dizzy boy back down again. "Alright, time to call in the infantry."

"Hold that call, Agent Fowler." Optimus stopped the man from placing the call. "We will go in and retrieve Reese first, then you can come in with the military. Have them on standby until we have Reese safely off the premise."

"Understood!" Fowler saluted and placed the call to have the infantry put on standby until he gave the word for them to assemble and move in on the coordinates.

Ratchet opened a ground bridge to the coordinates that Raf had acquired and everyone, save the medic and the humans, went rushing through.

* * *

Optimus, followed by his team, came running through the ground bridge to find what appeared to be an old abandoned factory that had been turned into MECH's base. Finding Reese among all the different buildings could be a struggle.

"Alright autobots, split up," Optimus ordered, sending his team in several different directions.

Optimus himself went for the largest and most central building on the lot. It made sense to start there, considering that the room they had seen Reese in had appeared to be quite large.

As he closed in on the building, he found himself suddenly surrounded by several MECH vehicles, soldiers inside them with weapons trained on him.

"Autobots, I believe I have found where they are keeping Reese. Join me at my coordinates," he informed his team before activating both of his blasters and pointing them at the surrounding MECH soldiers.

Within moments, the others arrived to bring their leader backup. "You deal with the MECH soldiers, I will get Reese," Optimus said as he turned from the others and attacked the main building, breaking a huge part of the wall away.

Inside, Optimus saw several MECH scientists transferring Reese to a gurney, undoubtedly attempting to evacuate the premises. He could not let that happen.

Running in, Optimus swiped at the scientists, sending them flying into the concrete walls of the large room. The sounds of pinging and ricocheting metal echoed through the room as several MECH soldiers opened fire on the Prime, but this did nothing to deter him from his mission. He picked up Reese, cradling and shielding her from the gunfire with his servos.

Looking down at her made his spark wrench. She didn't even look the same anymore. Both arms and legs had been altered with cybernetic enhancements, making them more metal than actual skin.

Optimus transformed around the girl, making sure that she was securely inside the cab of his vehicle form before speeding out of the base, still ignoring the mild sting of bullets leaving little dings in his metal frame. Once free of the actual structure of the building, he hailed the rest of his team.

"Autobots, fall back. Ratchet, open a ground bridge and give Agent Fowler the signal to send in the military. I have Reese and we are ready to return to base."

"Understood, I'm opening the ground bridge now," Ratchet replied, and almost as if on cue, a ground bridge opened about 100 yards away.

Optimus drove through it as quickly as possible, followed by the rest of Team Prime.

Back at the autobot base, Ratchet and Nurse Darby were ready and waiting. June had already pulled out a gurney for Reese to be placed on upon the autobots' return.

Optimus transformed as soon as he came through the portal, holding Reese delicately in his servos.

"Place her here," June motioned to the gurney, and Optimus complied, laying Reese gently down on it.

June went to work checking Reese's vitals, but it was difficult to do with all the cybernetic enhancements getting in the way. "Ugh, I can't get a clear reading with all this metal in the way!" June sighed in exasperation.

"Here, let me try," Ratchet stepped forward.

"She is still a human, Ratchet, what good is your equipment going to do?" the nurse snapped.

"My equipment can be recalibrated to scan human vital signs too, I will have you know," Ratchet retorted, not appreciating the nurse's tone.

"Fine," June yielded, moving back so that Ratchet could scan Reese. As much as she appreciated what the autobots were doing for Earth, she couldn't help but feel that they brought more trouble than good to the humans around them.

Ratchet quickly recalibrated his scanner and began running a diagnostic on Reese.

"By the Allspark!" he looked at his scanner in surprise.

"What is it, old friend?" Optimus came up behind Ratchet, looking from him to Reese and back with concern.

"That genetic mutation that Silas was going on about, it wasn't a mutation at all… it was CNA!"

"What's CNA?" June asked.

"Cyber Nucleic Acid, it's the building blocks of all Cybertronians," Ratchet explained.

"Well, why is the stuff in Reese? Did MECH put it there?"

"I don't think so, June. MECH has access to a lot of technology, but CNA is one thing I don't think they would be able to get their hands on. It would explain why Reese's body was able to adapt to the energon though. The only times I have ever heard of organics being merged with energon and Cybertronian tech was back during the war. Cybertronians were experimented on, tortured in an attempt to meld organic material with Cybertronian tech. That's where we coined the term 'techno-organic'. That still doesn't explain how Reese is one, though."

"Wait, you mean to tell me that Reese is some half human half robot android person? That doesn't make sense!" June looked at Ratchet as if he had just told her that unicorns were real.

"I'm just telling you what my scanners are picking up! I don't get it either," Ratchet snapped at June. His patience with the human nurse was running out very quickly.

"Well, your scanners must be faulty then," June concluded dryly.

"I'll show you who's faulty!" Ratchet yelled angrily, completely losing his temper with June. It was humans like her that tested his patience.

"That's enough, both of you. Arguing is not going to help Reese right now, nor is it going to give us answers," Optimus stepped into the argument, acting as mediator.

"Well, if you think Reese is better off being taken care of by some robot doctor, then that's fine by me. I have other patients who need my help back at the hospital," June retorted and turned from the autobots, climbed into her car, and drove out of the base in a huff.

"Good riddance," Ratchet grumbled under his breath, turning back to check on Reese.

Optimus vented and turned away from the others. He knew that June did not fully trust them, and he couldn't blame her for that, but he also wanted to know that he could trust her to be of help to them, and it was looking like that might be difficult from now on. He would need to have a talk with Ratchet, but now wasn't the right time for that. Everybody's nerves were frayed, and at that moment, the only thing that mattered was making sure that Reese was okay.

* * *

 **Okie Dokie, so before you guys hate on me for making June be a butt, hear me out. First of all, even in the show, she had been a little wary of the autobots. take that and put it on top of an extremely stressful situation, and she was bound to speak her mind and lose her temper. Also, it's Ratchet she is arguing with, he could make just about anybody lost their temper, so yea... there. I promise that she won't be like that forever, so don't worry.**

 ** **Please review and let me know what you think of the story. That is a HUGE motivator for me to keep up my writing. Thanks again for reading, and as always, Have a lovely and blessed day!****


	7. Change is Scary

**Hey hey hey! New updated chapter! Happy day! This chapter ended up changing A LOT from the original one, which is why it took a little longer to get published. Hope you enjoy it though :)**

 **Also, I hope that everyone is doing well and staying healthy amidst the circumstances around the world with the virus. Praying for this to all pass quickly. We're going to make it!  
**

* * *

 ** **Please note: I do not own Transformers. I do, however, have my own OC's which I have inserted into the story. My OC's include Reese Shields, Chase Sanders, Lyric, and Electra.****

 ** **Change is Scary****

 _Nnnggh… Am I awake? What happened? Who turned on the lights? Why are the lights so bright? Ugh… someone turn them back off. Give me five more minutes._

Reese rolled over, trying to block the light from her eyes. Even seeing the light through her closed eyelids was enough to make her head swim.

 _Hmmmm… I feel weird… Something isn't right._

This time Reese sat up, rubbing her eyes with her hands. It was then that reality began to set in. Her hands were not soft and warm like hands should be, rather, they were cold and metallic.

 _Am I still dreaming?_

She looked down at her hands in surprise, and they looked exactly like how they felt, cold and metallic. Actually, it wasn't just her hands, the metallic implants stretched all the way up her arms to her shoulders, leaving only bits of skin exposed here and there.

"Oh God! What happened to me!?" she finally voiced her thoughts audibly. Anxiety rose in her chest as she continued to stare down at her now mostly metal arms. Pain that she hadn't noticed before suddenly reared its ugly head as well. Burning and stinging emanated up her arms, starting at her fingertips and working its way up to her shoulders and into her back and spine. The pain also came from her legs. Did that mean…?

Despite the growing pain, Reese swung her legs over the side of the gurney, flinging the blankets back. Sure enough, the same metal implants that covered her arms also covered her legs and feet.

"No, no no no no no no," Reese uttered repeatedly, her anxiety growing into full blown panic. "This isn't real! This is a dream! It has to be!" She was practically yelling to herself now, trying to convince her own brain that she was still dreaming. In her panicked state, she climbed off the gurney, frantic to find someone, anyone, to wake her from this lucid nightmare. Her legs were not ready for her to do that, though, and they collapsed beneath her, causing her to elicit a sharp yelp of pain as she crumpled to the floor. "I hurt. I shouldn't be able to feel pain in a dream… But this has to be a dream. It just has to be."

The crashing sounds of Reese falling off the gurney alerted a nearby Ratchet and he came running into the med bay.

"Reese, what are you doing!? You shouldn't be up and about right now!

"Ratchet! Quick, you gotta make me wake up! Do Something, anything!" Reese frantically crawled towards the bot's peds.

"What are you talking about? You _are_ awake." Ratchet looked down at Reese in confusion.

"No… I can't be awake. I must be dreaming right now. There is no other way to explain the fact that I'm covered in metal."

"Reese, listen to me. Everything will be explained, but first, you need to calm down.

"How can you expect me to be calm when half of me is covered in metal!?" Reese cried, looking up at Ratchet with a panic-stricken face.

"Primus, I wish I hadn't lost it with June," Ratchet muttered under his breath. As much as the woman got on his nerves, he had to admit that she had a knack at calming Reese down out of panic attacks. "I… Uh…"

"Ratchet, I heard voices. Is Reese awake?" Optimus came walking into the med bay, eliciting a sigh of relief from Ratchet. Optimus' timing was impeccable, as always.

Optimus stopped short when he saw Reese on the floor, curled into a ball, and Ratchet standing nearby looking completely bewildered.

"Optimus… Could you?" Ratchet motioned to Reese, giving Optimus a wordless plea for help. Optimus was better at dealing with humans than Ratchet was, and the medic was all too eager to put the responsibility of calming the panicked teen into Optimus' servos.

"I see," Optimus looked momentarily taken aback, but quickly pushed any hesitation aside and stepped forward, crouching down close to Reese. "Reese, are you okay?"

"No… I'm not," Reese trembled. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she found it difficult to breathe. It felt like someone had dropped a stack of textbooks right on her chest, forcing the air out of her lungs. Her clothes clung to her body, soaking wet from the perspiration, and her stomach twisted and turned into a thousand tiny knots. "What… What happened to me?" She barely sputtered, choking on her words.

"I will explain everything, but you need to be in a better state of mind before I can. You're panicking. This is a normal reaction. I have seen it in soldiers who have suffered terrible trauma. Would it be okay if I walked you through some techniques that could help you calm down?" Optimus spoke gently and soothingly. Being a commanding officer meant that he knew well how to deal with panicking individuals.

Reese looked up at Optimus for a moment, before finally nodding her head. The pressure inside was becoming unbearable.

"Alright, let's start with you telling me exactly what you are feeling physically. What are your senses picking up?"

"I… I don't know. There is too much."

"What do your hands feel?"

"They feel cold. Hard. They sting."

"Okay, now tell me what you hear."

Reese closed her eyes, focusing on her surroundings. "I hear beeping. Faint humming coming from the computers. I hear the fans of the air conditioning running."

"Good, now tell me what you can smell."

"I… I smell metal and energon. I smell disinfectant too."

"Okay, now I want you to open your eyes. Tell me what you see."

Reese opened her eyes, squinting a little. "I see… A lot of things."

"List them."

"I see you, and Ratchet. The computers. The room. I see vivid colours. Everything is very bright. Did someone make the lights brighter while I was gone? I see so much detail… it's too much," Reese shut her eyes tight, covering her head with her hands.

"It's okay. Just relax. Breathe. Tell me, can you move?"

"I think so," Reese shakily adjusted her position, keeping her eyes closed. She grabbed the railing of the gurney, pulling herself to her feet. While holding on, she was fine, but as soon as she let go of the railing her legs collapsed beneath her, refusing to hold up her weight. "I… I can't stand," her voice was barely above a whisper. Optimus could see that she was struggling not to lapse back into the deep panic she had just come out of.

"Ratchet, perhaps you can help here," Optimus suggested, carefully lifting Reese off the floor and setting her back on the gurney. "Perhaps it has something to do with the implants."

"Optimus… Ratchet… I'm scared," Reese clutched her hands to her chest, literally trying to pry the heaviness off of her lungs.

"Do you think I should sedate her?" Ratchet pulled Optimus aside and asked quietly, so as not to alert Reese.

"No, I think she will be okay. She is making good progress. Just be patient with her," Optimus replied and turned back to Reese.

"Reese, Ratchet is going to scan the implants on your legs. We are just going to try and figure out why they are keeping you from being able to stand. You don't need to worry."

Ratchet walked over and picked up his scanner and began running it over Reese's legs. The light on the scanner flashed red when he got to her knees, indicating that that was where the issue was.

Ratchet facepalmed, allowing his servo to slowly slide down his facial plating, when he saw the reason for the cybernetic malfunction. "Those fragging MECH soldiers didn't calibrate the knee joints. That's why they keep giving out."

"Can you calibrate them?" Optimus asked, looking at Ratchet expectantly.

"I can, but it will be tricky. Given the fact that the internal components of the implants are so small, and my servos are so… well… Large, it will be pretty difficult."

"Perhaps I should call June. She could be your hands." Optimus offered.

"No, she wouldn't know what she was doing. I would rather have Rafael do it before I asked Nurse Darby."

"Ratchet, I think that you are underestimating Nurse Darby's abilities. However, since it seems that having you and her work together would not be in Reese's best interest, I will contact Rafael and see if he would be willing to help," Optimus vented and turned to activate a comm link with Rafael, their resident tech genius.

"Ratchet… could you turn down the lights? It really hurts my eyes," Reese mumbled, afraid that if she spoke too loudly, she might anger the medic. He clearly wasn't in the best of moods.

"I can do that," Ratchet vented, and turned to the control panel that controlled the light settings. "Though, would you mind if I took a look at your optics?"

"No, go ahead," Reese sat still and looked forward, allowing Ratchet to use his scanner on her eyes.

"Interesting, it seems that your retinal makeup is altering itself, which would explain in the sudden increase in detail and brightness. Wait, weren't your eyes brown before?"

"What do you mean by 'altering itself'? And yes, they were brown? Why do you ask?" Reese looked up at Ratchet, beginning to panic again.

"They are blue now. It would seem that the energon flooding must have awoken the CNA enough to begin rewriting your genetic makeup completely. This is quite fascinating."

"What is CNA? What are you talking about? This isn't fascinating, its terrifying!" Reese cried out, staring wide-eyed at Ratchet.

Optimus turned and walked back to the group. "I have contacted Rafael. He should be on his way. Oh…" He noticed Reese's rapidly panicking state. "Ratchet, what happened?"

"You might want to explain what is going on. It's about time Reese found out," was all Ratchet was willing to say, turning away with a guilty look.

Optimus shook his head disappointedly. He had hoped to wait until Reese was a little calmer to break the news to her, but it looked like it was happening now. "Reese, there is something you should know. Do you remember Silas saying anything about a "genetic mutation"?"

"Yes. He said that I had a mutation that would allow me to be compatible with energon, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a mutation. It was Cyber Nucleic Acid, more easily known as CNA, and it is the building block of all Cybertronians.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that somehow, you are part Cybertronian. We are not quite sure how, but one of your relatives must have been a Cybertronian. The CNA that is in you was reawakened by the energon that MECH introduced to your system, and that CNA is slowly rewriting your cells, which is why your vision has changed."

Reese stared blankly into space, allowing what Optimus had said to process in her brain. How could she be part Cybertronian? It shouldn't even be possible for Cybertronians to mate with a human. How could she have CNA in her, and how could it be rewriting her cells? Did that mean that she was being cyber-formed from the inside out? Was she going to end up as a robot internally as well as externally?

"Reese?"

"My life is ruined." Reese deadpanned, not even looking at the Prime. "I'm not even a full human. I already look part robot, and now you tell me that I'm slowly becoming one on the inside too? I can't do this."

"Reese, I know it's a lot to take in, but I promise we will find answers, and we will be with you every step of the way," Optimus looked down at Reese sadly, he knew this was probably the last thing she needed to be hearing.

Reese stared into space for a few moments, before finally laying down and closing her eyes. She was disassociating. Removing herself from the situation and going to a mental safe place. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself from losing it completely.

"Reese, are you okay?" Ratchet asked.

Reese gave no reply. She just laid there, eyes closed, ignoring her surroundings.

"Let her work things out internally. She is coping. Just let her be." Optimus placed a comforting servo on his friend's shoulder plating. "We will do what we can to help her, but she will need to figure this all out for herself as well, and that will take time."

"I know. I just hate not having all the answers," Ratchet vented.

"Life doesn't always give us all the answers, we just have to make do with the ones we are given."

* * *

 _"_ _Why did they save me? Why couldn't they have just let me die? No one will ever accept me like this. I can't go back to work. I probably won't even be able to go out in public ever again. I'm a freak. Some kind of half human half robot freak._

 _Who even in my family could have been a Cybertronian? I didn't even know that Cybertronians existed until I met the autobots. This doesn't make any sense. My family was so small. It was only ever my mom and dad and me. Mom's family lived far away. Her parents had already passed on, and my aunt and uncle on her side lived somewhere across the world. It couldn't have been them, could it?_

 _Then there's my dad's side. I suppose his side is a lot more mysterious. Dad never did like for us to go see Grandfather. Though… It was my grandfather that gave me my crystal necklace. Now that I think about it, the crystal looks a lot like an energon crystal. I wonder if… no, there isn't any way. Even though I only saw my grandfather a few times, he was just a normal human. Nothing robot about him. ARRRGGHH this is so frustrating!_

 _Maybe I was too hard on Optimus. I should have tried harder to be calm, to take the news better, but, how could I? It's not every day that you get told that you're a half robot alien. I hate this. I hate everything. Why did my parents have to die? Why did any of this have to happen?"_ The thoughts flowed from one to the next without pause. Reese's mind was so overwhelmed that she almost couldn't keep up. She wanted relief, needed a break from the constant flow of questions and negative thoughts.

A sharp pain in her knee was just the distraction she needed, jolting her back into reality. She bolted upright, startling Rafael and causing him to fall off the stool that had been set up for him by Reese's gurney.

"Reese are you okay?" Ratchet spun around, assessing what had just happened.

"My knee. Something hurt my knee," Reese stammered, a little taken aback by suddenly having all eyes on her.

"Sorry about that. Ratchet and I were trying to recalibrate the components of your knee joint implants so they wouldn't give out on you anymore. I must have accidently hit a tender spot. I'm sorry," Raf scrambled to his feet, picking his glasses up from where they fell off his face, and putting them back on.

"Oh… I… Okay." Reese muttered, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with either Raf or Ratchet. She had probably scared them, and after the way she had totally shut down on Ratchet and Optimus earlier, she was feeling pretty self-conscious.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I promise." Raf gave Reese a look that practically begged for forgiveness.

"I know… It startled me, that's all."

"Well, I think everything should be recalibrated, so why don't you try standing again," Ratchet changed the subject, much to Reese's relief.

"okay," Reese carefully slid her legs over the side of the gurney, letting them dangle there for a few seconds. She was hesitant to try standing again, still afraid that her legs would give out on her again. She pushed through the fear, though, and slid off the gurney, allowing her weight to rest fully on her legs.

Other than some tenderness, she found that she was able to stand without a problem.

"Try and walk a few steps. I want to make sure everything is working properly," Ratchet instructed.

Reese took several steps away from the gurney. It hurt, especially in her knees, but she was able to walk and that was all that mattered.

"How does it feel?" Ratchet asked gently. Reese could tell that he was working on his bedside manner. He was being much gentler, and more patient.

"It's a little sore, but I can manage."

"The soreness will go away in time. I'm just glad to see that you are back up on your feet," Ratchet smiled.

"Me too! When Optimus brought you back from MECH's base, I was so worried. I saw what happened, but I didn't get to see much after you got back, since Agent Fowler took me back home," Rafael came and stood beside Ratchet. "I'm just glad you are okay. I was pretty worried about you. We all were."

"I don't understand why you guys worry so much for me. I'm not anyone special. I literally got dragged in here by complete accident, and yet, you guys treat me as if I have been part of the team all along. I don't understand," Reese looked away, a little bewildered.

"You're part of the family now, why wouldn't we worry about you?" Raf looked surprised that Reese would even ask such a question.

"Raf is right. We have gotten used to having you around the base, and it would feel weird if you weren't here," Ratchet agreed, though he looked a little embarrassed to admit it.

"You guys…" Reese smiled despite herself. She had actually grown quite fond of everyone at the base and knowing how much she meant to them was enough to melt her heart. Maybe she could keep going after all, despite everything that had happened, if only for them.

"Alright, enough with all the sappy stuff, I am going to get back to the physical therapy program I was putting together for you earlier," Ratchet said abruptly and turned to one of the computer consoles.

"If you don't mind, I would like to stretch my legs. Honestly, I think that the more I use them, the stronger they will get."

"That's fine, just don't leave the confines of the base," Ratchet waved his hand in acknowledgement but didn't turn from his screen.

"Mind if I come with you?" Raf looked at Reese expectantly.

"I don't see why not," Reese shrugged her shoulders and started walking towards the hallway that led out of the main room of the base.

Her movements were slow, labored. Getting used to the enhancements was going to take time. She and Raf walked in silence for a while, neither of them really sure what to talk about. Reese didn't need Raf to talk. Honestly, she didn't feel like talking at all. She was just appreciative of his company. It's always nicer to walk with someone than it is to walk alone.

They made their way to the end of one of the hallways, finding themselves in the kitchen. Reese eased into one of the chairs at the table, grateful for a chance to rest her legs.

"You doing okay?" Raf asked, walking to the cabinet and grabbing a couple glasses.

"Yep, just fine," Reese smiled tightly, ignoring the throbbing coming from her legs. It would pass.

"Can I get you some water?"

"Sure."

Raf filled both glasses with water from the sink and brought it over, setting one of the glasses down in front of Reese.

"There you go."

"Thanks," Reese smiled and took a sip from the glass. "Oh, I wanted to ask, you said you were there last night, when they brought me back. It was awfully late. I didn't think anyone other than the bots would have been at the base."

"Yea, well, they needed some tech help. I was actually in bed already when they called. They said it was a matter of life or death and bridged me to the base. Thankfully, Mom had already gone to bed, so she didn't know that I had left the house. She would have lost her mind if she had found out. I sure am glad I came though. I don't think they would have been able to save you if I hadn't been able to trace the communication link."

"I guess I owe you as much thanks as I do the rest of the team. I had no idea," Reese looked down into her glass, swirling the water gently around and around.

"You're welcome. You know, you may want to talk with Bee and let him know you are good. He and I talked for a few minutes after they brought you back. He was super worried."

"Bee is so thoughtful. I haven't seen him at all today, I wonder where he has been."

"He told me this morning, while taking me to school, that he would have scouting duty for most of the afternoon and wouldn't be back until pretty late tonight," Raf sighed, resting his chin on his hand. "I get pretty bored when he is out scouting. Miko and Jack don't really like to hang out with me too much, Miko especially."

"well, if you ever get bored and Bee is gone, you can always come find me. You and I have a lot more in common than you might think. I mean, for one, we both love technology, and we can both understand Bee. I get pretty lonely too, so I wouldn't mind the company," Reese smiled warmly.

"I might take you up on that sometime, hahaha." Raf gave a genuine laugh. It was good to hear him laugh. Reese felt bad for him. He was only twelve, and Miko and Jack were several years older than him. It seemed like his only real friend at the base was Bee, but she planned on changing that. Raf had done so much for her already, it was the least she could do to take some time out of her day to hang out with him.

"Oh, speaking of the others," Where are Jack and Miko?

"They're out hanging with their guardians. They never came back to the base after Bulkhead and Arcee picked them up from school. I think they said something about racing," Raf sighed again.

"well, why don't we go have a race of our own. I'm down for a round of speed racers if you are," Reese offered.

"Oh, you're on!" Raf jumped up excitedly and sped out of the room, forgetting that Reese couldn't keep up in her condition. He noticed her lagging behind and stopped, walking back to her.

"No, you go on ahead. Get the system set up for the game. I will be there in a few minutes," Reese encouraged Raf to keep going.

"Are you sure? I can walk with you if you like," Raf looked mildly torn between sticking with Reese and going to set up the game.

"Nah, I'm good. I'm gonna stop by the restroom on my way in there, so you go on ahead," Reese assured.

"Okay! I will have the race all set up for you when you get there!" Raf took off running back into the main room where the kid's hangout was located. Reese only smiled, enjoying seeing the excitement on the boy's face.

She stopped off at the restroom on her way to the main room, and she found herself staring into the mirror over the sink. Ratchet was right, her eyes were blue now, the same shade as energon. It was unsettling and Reese had to look away after a few moments. Now, not only did she have an ugly scar that stretched across her face, but her eyes were unsettlingly blue, and her body was covered in cybernetic enhancements. She couldn't go out in public. Not like this. She looked back up into the mirror, hating that frustrated tears were now streaming down her face. When had that started? She had always been pretty good about keeping her emotions in check, except for when she had panic attacks, of course. The panic attacks weren't her fault, but she could control her other emotions, and yet, here she was, standing in the bathroom, crying.

"Get yourself together, Reese," She splashed water angrily onto her face. "Don't let the others see you cry. They have already seen you panic. You have been enough of a burden on them. Crying never fixed anything, so suck it up and deal with it." She clenched her hands into fists and breathed deeply, forcing her emotions into the deepest recesses of her being. She wouldn't let them show. She refused.

Once the tears were gone, Reese grabbed a hand towel and wiped her face. She continued splashing it with cold water and wiping it off until the redness around her eyes and nose was gone. Nobody would ever have to know that she had been crying.

She walked out of the bathroom, putting on a happy look, and went into the main room to join Raf for their racing game.

* * *

Raf and Reese played their racing game for a while. Reese wasn't nearly as good at the game as Raf was, but it was fun nonetheless, and it was helpful to get her mind off things. It did take her a bit to get used to the controls, though, since everything felt weird now that her hands were covered in metal enhancements. The controller liked to slip and slide in her hands, making it difficult to play with. She would have to invest in some rubber grips to go on the remotes if she wanted to be able to use them properly.

They actually ended up playing until Arcee and Bulkhead returned with their charges. Both kids were laughing when they climbed off of/out of their guardian's vehicle modes.

"Hey guys," Reese set down her controller and walked over to greet them. She hadn't seen them all day.

"Oh my gosh! It's true! You are part robot now!" Miko jumped up and down excitedly, but her comments only made Reese squirm. Why did that have to be the first thing that Miko mentioned upon seeing her? "How does it feel to be a half alien robot?"

Reese stared at Miko in shock. Could the girl not take a hint? Could she not read body language? Reese's eyes flashed angrily, and she turned away from the others, taking a deep breath to try and ease her nerves.

"Miko, you're on thin ice right now. I think its best if you didn't say anything else about the situation…" Reese spoke in a low, almost emotionless tone. She didn't want to snap at Miko, since the girl was merely curious, but Miko's insensitivity and lack of tact was enough to annoy anyone. It didn't help that Reese had a short temper, and Miko seemed to always be walking all over her nerves.

"What, I just asked a question," Miko whined, looking disappointed that she wasn't going to get any answers.

"Hey Miko, lets go get some soda or something from the kitchen," Raf could see the look of anger brewing on Reese's face, since he was the only one she was turned towards at the time. He knew that the sooner Miko was separated from Reese, the better off everyone would be.

Once Raf had successfully distracted Miko with the prospect of soda, Reese was finally able to relax again. She sat down on the sofa and put her head in her hands.

She heard Jack come up behind her and place his hand on her shoulder. She could feel his hand almost pull back when it felt the hard metal plates that were attached to her shoulders, but despite the initial hesitation, he didn't move.

"Hey… You okay?"

Reese ran her hands down her face slowly before turning to look up at Jack. Her face was red, but her eyes held no tears. "I've been better, but I will make it… I guess."

"Well, we will stand with you… Even Miko will. Don't let her get under your skin. She's only fifteen and has a lot to learn."

"You're only six-teen, Jack, but you already have a lot of wisdom. Thanks. Look, um, if you don't mind, I think I might turn in for the evening. I know its not that late, but I'm a little worn out," Reese said as she stood to her feet. She really wasn't that tired, but she didn't want to be around people at the time, even if they meant well.

"Oh yea, that makes sense. You go and get some rest," Jack stepped aside to let her pass.

"Goodnight guys," Reese waved to Arcee and Bulkhead as she walked past them. Arcee waved back, but Bulkhead only looked away. Reese wondered if he was blaming himself. She would probably have a talk with him about it later, but for now, she didn't want to socialize any longer than she had to.

* * *

The hours ticked by slowly for Reese. Everyone had either gone home or gone to their quarters to recharge. Reese was the only one awake, unable to sleep. It was uncomfortable to lay down, since no matter what position she laid in, it put pressure on the metal plates that covered her shoulders and part of her back. Not to mention her arms and legs. It was something she would have to get used to, which would be easier to do once the tenderness went away.

Finally, she gave up trying to sleep and rolled out of bed, slipping on some shoes and a sweater. Maybe a breath of fresh air would do her good. She quietly opened her door and made her way into the main room, making sure to make as little noise as possible. She didn't want to wake the others up and have them asking her why she was still up.

She walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. A loud clanging sound reverberated through the shaft as the elevator came to life and the pulleys began raising it to the level that Reese was on. Reese cringed at the sound, hoping that it hadn't been loud enough to wake anybody up. She stepped onto the elevator when it came to the floor she was on and pressed the button for it to take her to the top of the plateau. The doors creaked again as they shut, eliciting another cringe from Reese.

Finally, the elevator brought her to the top, opening into the cold desert night. It still surprised Reese, even after years of living in the desert, how it could be over a hundred degrees during the day and yet could drop down to near freezing during the night. She was glad she had brought her sweater, wishing a little that she had brought something heavier.

She ignored the biting wind and walked to the edge of the plateau, looking out over the desert landscape. She could see for miles, and the sky was full of stars. The stars were so much prettier out here than they were in town, since there was less light pollution to obscure them from view. Reese could stare at the night sky forever if she had the chance to.

She sat down with her legs crisscrossed, wrapping the sweater around herself tighter. here she was safe to release her emotions. Here she could finally let out some of the stuff she had been holding back. Maybe, after she let out some of her pent-up energy, she would finally be able to go back downstairs and get some proper rest.

She looked up at the sky, at the stars, and let the tears begin streaming down her face. The tears of frustration, and anger, and bitterness. Tears that she couldn't bring herself to show to anyone else but God above. Sure, it wasn't healthy to hold it in, but if she didn't show her emotions, then she wouldn't have to burden anybody with them.

Reese had been pretty neglectful of her faith since the passing of her parents. Living on her own had made her hard. She had lost touch with all those who had cared for her, shoving the sadness deep down beneath a heavy work schedule that left her no time to mourn. Maybe now that she couldn't work anymore, she would have to deal with that sadness that she had buried for so long. What would her parents have thought if they knew what she had become? Would they be upset with her? She would never know, which only made her feel worse.

She brought her knees up to her chest and let the hot tears stream down and soak into her leggings. Her shoulders heaved with each sob. This wasn't fair. Why did life have to be so unfair?

Reese was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the elevator come back up to the top and open again. She didn't even notice when footsteps approached her from behind. She only became aware that someone else was there when she felt a blanket being draped over her shoulders.

With a gasp, she jumped to her feet, quickly brushing the tears off her face. She turned around to find Bumblebee standing behind her, looking down at her gently.

"Bumblebee! I, uh, didn't hear you come up here," Reese stammered, embarrassed that she had been so oblivious to her surroundings. "I didn't wake you up, did I? I'm so sorry!"

" _No, I hadn't gone into recharge yet. I had only just gotten back from my scouting mission when I heard the elevator start up. I saw you head up top wearing only a sweater, and knowing how cold it gets at night, thought I would bring up something to keep you warm_."

"Oh… thank you," Reese looked away, but she wrapped the blanket tightly around herself, appreciative that Bumblebee would bring it up for her.

Reese half expected Bumblebee to continue the conversation, but he didn't. He merely sat down and began looking up at the stars. Reese wondered why he didn't say anything, but at the same time, it was nice to just have someone to keep her silent company. She sat back down beside the giant robot, scrunching up into a tiny ball and wrapping up into a little burrito with the blanket. She remembered back to when her mom would joke about her looking like a sad fluffy turtle(1) whenever she did this, since only her head would poke out of the blankets. The memory made her chuckle to herself.

Bumblebee looked down at her curiously, but still said nothing. The two sat in companionable silence for a while, just staring up at the stars, until Bumblebee looked down and saw that Reese was fast asleep, propped up against his arm. He smiled softly, glad to see her resting peacefully. He hadn't mentioned it, but he had heard her crying. He knew she was trying to hide it, and he couldn't blame her. He did the same thing when he was younger and lost his own family(2). His creators had died during the war when Praxus had been captured by the decepticons. He went into the care center for sparklings who had lost their creators until he was old enough to join a faction. He joined the Autobots, and ultimately ended up on Optimus' team, gaining a new family. He remembered the many sleepless nights, though, when he had mourned the death of his creators in the privacy of his own quarters. He knew the shame and the burdensome feeling that those emotions had caused him, but he also knew that it was important not to be alone during those times. Back at the care center, he had had a roommate who became like an older brother to him. His name had been Blue Steel, but he too had died in the war as a soldier. Blue Steel had been there for Bumblebee. He looked out for Bee, becoming the older brother that Bee had never had at home.

As Bee looked down at Reese, he made a silent promise. He would be the older brother that Reese could always rely on. He would do his best to keep her from harm, and he would be there to support her in times of need. Everybody needs a sibling in their life to keep them company and to stick with them through the ups and downs, and Bumblebee vowed to be that for Reese from that moment forward.

It wasn't much later when Reese stirred again, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She yawned and looked up at Bee with gentle, sad eyes. "Bee, I want to thank you for this. I needed somebody to just sit with me and keep me company… I know this is going to sound kind of silly, but you are kind of like the brother that I never had but always wanted. You have spent time with me when the others wouldn't. you have gone along with my reckless ideas, and you have taken the time to keep me company when I needed it most. Thanks for being there for me," She sighed and looked back out into the night, shivering a little despite the blanket she had wrapped around herself.

" _It's funny that you should say that, because I have kind of seen you as a little sister to me. I know we might not be biological family, but I promise to be the best brother I can be. You can come to me anywhere, anytime, and I will be there for you. That means when you need to let things off your chest too, understood?"_

"okay," Reese smiled, laughing despite herself. She finally had a family again, and it felt nice.

"Alright, my first task as your official older brother is to get you back inside before you freeze to death. Come on, you will sleep better in your own bed than you will out here in the cold," Bumblebee made a noise that resembled laughter as he watched Reese pick herself up off the ground, blanket still engulfing most of her. It was a comical sight, really.

"You better not turn into one of those overprotective brothers who won't let me do anything, you hear me?" Reese half seriously joked.

"Only if you promise not to do anything that would force me to," Bumblebee half seriously joked back, and the two walked to the elevators. It was good to have family.

* * *

 **(1) This is something that my best friend always calls me. It's kind of an inside joke actually. She is a mom friend in the best possible way and I love her to pieces. Whenever I am sad, I will just take my blanket, go to her room, and curl up in a ball while she gives me snacks and calls me a sad fluffy turtle. So, in honour of her, I decided to put a little reference to something she does.**

 **(2) This is not canon. I completely created Bumblebee's back story and family. Also, Blue Steel a character I created to be friends with Bumblebee when he was in the sparkling care center. I just wanted to give Bee a reason to see Reese as a younger sibling, and to also have a way to relate to what she was feeling. Bumblebee and Reese will have a close sibling relationship, and creating this backstory for Bee was integral in the creation of that relationship, since that is something that they bond over.**

 **Soooo, what did y'all think? It's funny, this chapter ended up being waaay longer than the original one. It was longer by almost 4,000 words! Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed it :D. Sorry if I end up being slow to update for a little while, since I'm finishing up this semester and I have final projects coming do. School takes priority. Anyhooo, Please review and let me know what you think. Reviews are a HUGE motivator for me. It is always nice to know that people are reading my story, and that they want to see more, so please do review if this is something that interests you ;) Stay safe and healthy during this crazy time, and of course, have a lovely blessed day!**


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